Scope
Description
The Contracting Authority (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) seeks to develop a planning tool that enables Augmented decision making for planning applications.
The initial focus will be on householder developments (as defined in Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015) with a view to expand into further application types within
the ‘other*’ category (those not classified as Major or Minor) which represent 69% of all planning applications.
The objective is to dramatically reduce planning application processing times initially targeting a reduction from upwards of 8 weeks to circa 4 weeks, with a long-term vision of near-instant decisions for straightforward applications. All reduction targets do not include elements that solutions cannot be expected to affect i.e. statutory 21-day consultation periods, site visits, neighbour notifications, external consultee responses, and committee scheduling.
Proposals will need to demonstrate understanding of the relevant parts of the planning process including administrative processes (e.g. policy research, citation generation, report generation) as well as analytical processes (e.g. material considerations identification, policy compliance assessment, planning balance evaluation, decision reasoning). Solutions should be designed to assist planning officers with the above processes and provide reasoned, verifiable recommendations for decisions. Solutions must be integrated with existing planning systems.
As part of the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage, bidders will be required to participate in a two-week demo build (unpaid) to each develop a working prototype which will be evaluated at "Demo Day". This will take the form of a presentation of the prototype, and this will be evaluated in accordance with the process and award criteria set out in the ITT.
During the contract, the service recipients (i.e. those that will use the solution) may include:
DSIT MHCLG
Local Planning Authorities (317 LPAs)
Planning Inspectorate
Devolved Administrations
Combined Authorities (mayoral authorities with planning powers)
National Parks Authorities (separate planning authorities)
Broads Authority (special planning authority)
The procurement has been carried out by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for and on behalf of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Contract 1. MHCLG Augmented Planning Decisions
Supplier
Contract value
- £6,906,513 excluding VAT
- £8,287,815.60 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Award decision date
5 February 2026
Date assessment summaries were sent to tenderers
5 February 2026
Standstill period
- End: 16 February 2026
- 7 working days
Earliest date the contract will be signed
17 February 2026
Contract dates (estimated)
- 17 February 2026 to 17 May 2028
- Possible extension to 17 May 2029
- 3 years, 3 months, 1 day
Description of possible extension:
12 months following initial Support and Grow Phase
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Information about tenders
- 5 tenders received
- 5 tenders assessed in the final stage:
- 0 submitted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- 0 submitted by voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
- 1 supplier awarded contracts
- 4 suppliers unsuccessful (details included for contracts over £5 million)
Unsuccessful suppliers
Submission
Submission type
Requests to participate
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Suppliers
AtkinsRéalis UK Limited
- Companies House: 00688424
Woodcote Grove, Ashley Road
Epsom, Surrey
KT18 5BW
United Kingdom
Region: UKJ26 - East Surrey
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Cognizant Worldwide Limited
- Companies House: 07195160
280 Bishopsgate
London
EC2M 4AG
United Kingdom
Region: UKI42 - Tower Hamlets
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Endava (UK) Limited
- Companies House: 03919935
125 Old Broad Street
London
EC2N 1AR
United Kingdom
Region: UKI31 - Camden and City of London
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Google Cloud EMEA Limited
- Companies House: 03977902
70 Sir John Rogerson's Quay
Dublin
D02 R296
Ireland
Email: ps-frameworks@google.com
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Connected people/organisations:
https://core.cro.ie/e-commerce/company/692859 and https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03977902/officers
Associated people/organisations:
DEEPMIND TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED 073863505 New Street Square, London, EC4A 3TW
FACULTY SCIENCE LIMITED 08873131 Level 5 160 Old Street, London, England, EC1V 9BW
Contract 1. MHCLG Augmented Planning Decisions
PA CONSULTING SERVICES LIMITED
- Companies House: 00414220
10 Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DN
United Kingdom
Region: UKI32 - Westminster
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Contracting authority
Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PVWZ-3216-PVQL
22 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2EG
United Kingdom
Email: cih@dsit.gov.uk
Region: UKI32 - Westminster
Organisation type: Public authority - central government