Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities in adopting AI responsibly in service delivery.

The government supports the responsible integration of AI across local government operations and services to reduce costs, drive efficiencies and improve service outcomes.

My Department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Incubator for AI (i.AI) to deliver the ‘Extract’ tool, which uses AI to transform planning information and maps from PDF’s into data. The tool includes a human verification element, and when launched will be accompanied by guidance to support local authorities.

We also continue to fund the development of AI solutions in collaboration with local planning authorities via our PropTech Innovation Fund. Previous funding rounds saw a number of AI projects balancing innovation with responsible service delivery and implementation of safeguards. The latest round, which closed June 2025, placed ethical and responsible considerations as a priority criterion for assessment, with applications proposing to develop AI solutions required to set out steps towards responsible delivery and regulatory compliance.