Like any local authority, one of Ipswich Borough Council's principal responsibilities is to review and approve planning applications. It's a process that depends on openness and accessibility - making it an ideal candidate for delivery online.

Stephen French, Planning Services at Ipswich Borough Council, said: "We recognised that we could greatly improve the service we offer to residents, home buyers and agents, if they could interact with our planning system online. It would also allow us to work more efficiently. If people had questions, our staff had to search our files for the answers. We have data that goes back as far as 1947 - so that could often take quite a bit of time!"

Ease is essential
The Council came to A Recipe For Success for help in developing the new service. The 2003 Pendleton Report had established a list of 21 performance criteria for rating the performance of planning departments, and Ipswich wanted to meet as many as possible: ease of access to information being an essential criteria.

Stephen added: "What we wanted was for the public, lawyers, house builders and others to be able to conduct their own online research. So we needed a new website that would be integrated with the existing IT systems we use in our planning department."

All in one place
A Recipe For Success got to work straightaway, building a web-based interface that allows users to specify the types of data they need and the addresses they are interested in. Details of current and past planning applications, conservation areas, tree preservation orders and so on are gathered from the Council's IT systems and consolidated into a comprehensive report that's fed back to the user's web browser.

Commenting on the system, Stephen French said: "It's among some of the first e-gov planning systems in the country. Hundreds of enquiries are now handled each week, all fully automatically, and the system has been a real hit with users. We have also scored full marks against 16 of the 21 Pendleton criteria as a result of the new implementation."

Real benefits
He added: "People making enquiries can now complete searches themselves, and view the results immediately. They can also track their own applications as they go through the planning process. It's a lot quicker than enquiring in person, and it gives us more time to spend on 'real' planning work - so there are benefits all round."

As one user observed, it's an example that other councils would do well to follow. He said: "In my business, I need to access planning information regularly, so your system has saved me a great deal of time. I have dealings with quite a number of councils and Ipswich has certainly shown itself to be at the forefront of implementing the Government's e-policy."

Looking ahead, Ipswich is determined to stay at the forefront of the field and keep improving its services to the public. Ipswich Borough Council has already put plans in place to meet the remaining Pendleton criteria by the end of 2005.

Ipswich Borough Council has a reputation of being one of the UK's most enthusiastic adopters of e-government. The information and services available through its web site allow the people of Ipswich to pay their council bills, book sports facilities and theatre seats, request repairs to Ipswich Borough Homes, and complete a range of other transactions 24 hours a day, with little or no staff involvement.

The Council has also helped the UK Government test ideas for improving access to local government and participation in elections. In 2003, for example, it offered voters the opportunity to cast their ballots via mobile phone text message, touchtone telephone, digital television or the internet, as well as the traditional polling booth. For more information, visit the Ipswich Planning Portal.