Starmer announces AI planning tool to clear national backlog

The Prime Minister hopes that Extract will enable planning officers to drastically cut down on the length of time it takes to process data from documents, by digitising information in minutes rather than hours.

Working with Google, the government has today unveiled its ambitions to fully digitise the planning system in England using its Gemini system.

With around 350,000 planning applications a year submitted to councils in England, the software will slash the time spent by planning officers manually checking documents.

During trials in Hillingdon, Nuneaton & Bedworth, and Exeter, Extract was able to condense and process planning applications, including maps, in three minutes each – compared to the one to two hours it takes a planning officer.

The government will expand the software to handle all planning document types, with the aim that local authorities have fully digitised all planning documents by the end of 2026.

In a statement, Keir Starmer said: “Why does it take so long to build anything in the UK?

“You can blame our outdated planning system that’s slowing us down.

“Around 350,000 planning applications are submitted a year in England, yet the system remains heavily reliant on paper documents — some even hundreds of pages long.

“Once submitted, each of these documents needs to be manually validated and approved by a planning officer, taking them hours on end to go through it.

“Today we’re announcing a new government-built AI tool called Extract that can process these documents in minutes, freeing up thousands of hours for planning officers to focus on decision-making to speed up housebuilding.

“In test trials across Hillingdon, Nuneaton & Bedworth, and Exeter councils, Extract digitised planning records in just three minutes each — compared to the 1 to 2 hours it typically takes manually. That means processing a 100 planning records a day, significantly speeding up the process.

“My vision is to fully digitise our planning system — making it faster, more transparent, and easier to navigate for working people.

“Through our Plan for Change, we will accelerate house building, improve reliability in the planning process and reduce cost and time for councils, businesses and developers.

“It’s a bold step forward in our mission to build 1.5 million more homes for working people, and to deliver a planning system fit for the future.”