We recently tested a service to allow local planning authorities (LPA) to publish their planning and housing data.

Research showed that:

users did not understand why they were able to continue to publish their data with errors
users did not understand why their data was being changed and were concerned that it was
users did not expect to have to publish their data on their website or understand why they were being asked to

We also find out that there’s no legal requirement for users to get their data onto the platform by providing a link to their web page.

The purpose of requiring LPAs to publish their data to a web page is to make it clear to consumers where the data has come from. This is to reduce any potential liability to the Department for Levelling Up and Housing Communities (DLUHC).

So we made changes to simplify the service.

What we changed

Removing the ability to continue past the errors page

In the previous version, we allowed users to publish any data that did not contain errors. This allows us to get as much data onto the platform as possible.

But users did not understand why they were able to do this. And users would have to fix the errors later anyway.

So we removed the ability to continue with errors.

Removing the page that tells users how their data will be changed

In the previous version, we showed users how their data will be changed to meet our requirements.

But users did not understand why it was being changed. They were also concerned about the changes being made. 1 user also thought the changes were to fix the errors on the previous page. But the changes are not related to the errors.

Users should not have to be concerned about any changes if it’s good enough to be published on our platform.

So we removed the page showing users how their data is being changed

No longer asking users to publish their data to their website

In the previous version, users could only continue to publish their data if they had already published their data on their own website.

This is because we currently require users to provide a webpage as a means of getting data onto the platform. And we currently require this as a way to show where the data came from and who is responsible for it.

But users were confused about why they were required to do this. They were also concerned about the effort it would take.

So we’re no longer requiring uses to publish their data to their website.

Simplifying the start page

As we’re no longer requiring users to publish their data to their website, we were able to simplify the start page to reflect the simplified journey.

We now only include information about:

what types of data they can check
how to meet the standard
which file types we can accept

Changing the email to include the benefits of publishing their data

We simplified the email to focus on the benefits of publishing their data to the platform.

We want users to understand that: - the data they upload will allow members of the public to find planning and housing data in England - they’ll get fewer queries from the public - making the data open improves the relationship between their communities and developments - it helps keep their data clean and up to date - it helps with the creation of new digital services for property and planning

We decided not to mention any of their legal obligations partly because they should already be aware and because only some LPAs are contractually obliged to publish their data on our platform.

Subject: Publish your planning and housing data for England

Dear ((name))

You can now publish your planning and housing data.

Publishing your data:

means citizens can find planning and housing data in England
reduces queries from the public, such as freedom-of-information (FOI) requests
creates better relationships between communities and developments
helps you keep your data clean and up to date
allows the creation of new digital services for property and planning, such as PlanX

Publish your planning and housing data: https://publish.planning-data.dev/start

Get help

Get help, report a problem or give feedback at digitalland@levellingup.gov.uk.

Sending the uploaded file

As we’re no longer requiring users to publish their data to their website, we’re now sending the data they uploaded.

So we updated the check answers page and confirmation page to reflect this.

What we want to find out in research

We want to find out:

if users expect to provide their data in ways other than uploading a file
if users have the ability to change column headings to meet the specification
what users will do if we cannot detect a column like “Name of conservation area”
what users expect will happen after they check their data and they have no errors