How we work with the LURA
When we design data to go on planning.data.gov.uk there is the option to mandate the creation and publication of the data through the powers of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.
The specific planning data powers in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Sections 84-91) were designed to ensure that increasing amounts of consistent open data becomes available relating to planning and development in England.
This has implications for how we design data and what we need to produce during the design process.
The key clauses
Section 84(1) allows an “appropriate authority” to set “planning data regulations” which require a “relevant planning authority” to comply with “approved data standards” relating to “planning data”.
Section 84(2) defines “planning data” as any information which is provided to or processed by the “relevant planning authority” for any “relevant planning enactment” or any other planning or development purpose.
Section 84(3) defines what “approved data standards” means. The definition includes both the technical specifications or any other requirements neither of which terms are defined.
Technical specification
In this context technical specifications are the same as what is more common described as a data standard.
Other requirements
Other requirements can be anything else relating to the data, or related to providing or processing the data.
A couple of examples defined in the LURA are:
- Section 85(1) relates to an “approved data standard” being able to determine the “form and manner” that data is provided in. For example, we commonly ask for data in CSV or various geospatial formats.
- Section 86(1) relates to “planning data” being [published] under an “approved open licence” (which is defined in 86(3)). For example, we ask for data to be under an OGL licence.
What this means for designing planning data
‘Approved data standards’ are a specific output, which requires secondary legislation to be put into place to create them.
The data design process, which this manual aims to help you follow, contributes to that by providing the technical specification.
The idea is to take planning considerations (where someone has specified a potential need for data in the planning system), investigate the need, investigate the data and through data modelling develop a technical specification to be implemented. These techncial specifications should be compatible with other technical specifcations created for planning data.
Although the data design process ends with the development of the technical specification, if the decision to convert this into an ‘approved data standard’ is made, what we’ve captured during the process will be need to be shared.
Aspects of this manual will cover what information needs to be recorded and how during the design process.