City of London tests automation to streamline planning consultation

The City of London Corporation has successfully trialled an automated email processing system to streamline public consultation responses, significantly reducing administrative workload and improving data accuracy.

During the consultation for its City Plan 2040, the Corporation received 2,000 comments from almost 300 individuals, with the vast majority (87%) submitted via email. To manage these efficiently, the Corporation partnered with the MHCLG Digital Planning programme to test an automated solution designed to categorise and store consultation responses using Microsoft 365.

“The programme has worked well for us, saving us hours of manual data entry in one step of the representation processing," said Michelle Rowland, Planning Policy Officer at the City of London Corporation. "Instead of painstakingly inputting emails, names, and relevant details by hand, the programme automated the entire process. From the spreadsheet export, we were easily able to add additional columns for summarising and analysing the comments.”

Public consultations play a crucial role in local planning authorities’ (LPAs) decision-making, ensuring community opinions are considered in shaping future policies. However, processing large volumes of responses is typically labour-intensive and time-consuming.

Developed as part of the MHCLG Digital Planning programme, the new automation tool helps local authorities by automatically sorting, categorising, and storing email submissions. The Microsoft 365 add-on is free for existing licence holders and removes the need for manual data entry, enabling planners to focus on analysing feedback rather than spending weeks processing responses.

The automation tool connects to the consultation inbox in Microsoft 365 and automatically categorises unread emails received during the consultation period. It extracts key details, including name, email address, attachments and body text, storing it in a centralised SharePoint database, allowing teams to access, review, and analyse feedback more efficiently. The system’s ability to generate structured datasets enables LPAs to make data-driven decisions without the burden of manual input.

By eliminating repetitive administrative work, the system has the potential to save one to two months of processing time per consultation - at no additional cost for LPAs using Microsoft 365.

The trial in the City of London demonstrated the system’s ability to enhance data accuracy and reduce workload, making consultation responses easier to manage and analyse.

As the automation tool is compatible with existing IT systems used by LPAs, other local authorities can adopt it at their discretion. The trial has shown that automation not only reduces administrative burdens but also enhances data organisation and accuracy - a significant step forward for digital transformation in local government planning.