PlanAssist expands to 12 more councils in England
By Steven Van ·
A Gemini tool for planning officers, not a consumer product, is entering a 12-month beta after pilots in three councils.
Google DeepMind is opening PlanAssist to 12 more councils in England. Built with Gemini, it is a public-sector tool for planning officers, not a consumer product. In early pilots in Barnet, Camden, and Dorset, the average time on householder assessment tasks fell by 58%, which the post also calls up to 58%.
It checks documents and drawings, heritage constraints such as tree preservation orders, local and national policy, and earlier objections, then drafts a cited report the officer can edit. Officers keep the final say. Google DeepMind built it with the UK government, Google Cloud, and Faculty.
Twelve more councils, unnamed in the post, join a 12-month live beta in three cohorts, 15 in all. If testing succeeds, the government plans to offer it to every council in England in 2027, with a qualified officer approving each decision. The announcement does not list a price.