Earlier this week, the prime minister announced the launch of ‘Extract’ — an AI assistant for planning officers and local councils, developed by the government with support from Google.

The government has estimated the use of Extract will save up to 250,000 hours spent by planning officers each year on handwritten and manual processes.

In trials at three councils, Extract was about to extract digitised planning records within minutes whereas these would have taken hours to do manually.

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Richard Beresford, CEO at the NFB, has applauded its introduction, and highlighted that it was needed in light of several local planning authorities’ (LPAs’) own digital innovations.

“LPAs have been developing digital planning tools themselves, resulting in a sprawling mess of solutions which, ironically, contributes to planning confusions and delay,” said Richard.

“Extract is different, it can be used by all LPAs and will enable planners to find and interpret the information they need more efficiently, while also helping the government to better understand where improvements could exist on the bureaucratic and submission process.”

The government expects a full rollout of Extract by Spring 2026.