London Borough of Redbridge: One-Day Validation with AI

Redbridge London Borough Council, serving 21 wards across Greater London, has worked with Agile Applications for over two decades. The council adopted the Agile 360 improvement programme to drive further efficiency and innovation within its planning service.

The Challenge

Redbridge faced increasing operational pressures, including:

A backlog of planning applications
Admin-heavy processes limiting staff capacity
Reduced staffing levels

The council needed to optimise processes, improve turnaround times and create efficiencies without compromising service quality.

The Solution

Redbridge implemented a fully optimised planning solution incorporating workflow automation, chatbots and Artificial Intelligence.

Workflow Automation

The inbuilt workflow functionality streamlined internal processes, reducing manual administration and creating additional capacity within the team.

Chatbots and Self-Service

Planning and Building Control chatbots were introduced to reduce customer queries and enable resident self-service. This delivered measurable savings of:

0.5 FTE within the planning team
0.5 FTE within customer services

Artificial Intelligence

Redbridge joined a collaborative group of councils working to implement AI-powered validation of planning applications. This initiative is expected to deliver further time savings and efficiencies.

The council is also migrating its planning and mapping solutions to the Azure Cloud, providing secure 24/7 access for all users.