How the Logical Planning Score works

Weighted factors

Each factor is scored from 0 to 100 from the underlying data, then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100. Weights are shown on every report so the result can be interrogated.

Score bands

How confidence is calculated

Confidence is a measure of the evidence base, not of the score. A site can score highly with low confidence where key datasets are missing. It is derived from:

• ·Whether the adopted and emerging Local Plan position is published for the authority.
• ·Whether a five-year housing land supply figure and Housing Delivery Test result are available.
• ·The number of comparable planning decisions retrieved near the site.
• ·How completely the national constraint datasets return data for the boundary.
• ·Whether the underlying evidence carries a published source date.

Data sources and update frequency

Constraint and designation data is queried live from planning.data.gov.uk at the moment of assessment. Environment Agency flood data, local planning authority decision records, Planning Inspectorate appeal decisions and published case law are retrieved on request and cached briefly. Local Plan and housing supply positions are held per authority and stamped with the date they were last checked, which is shown alongside each figure.

Limitations

• ·National datasets do not cover every constraint. Access, topography, utilities, contamination and ground conditions almost always require site-specific survey work.
• ·An absence of data is reported as “Data currently unavailable” and never treated as an absence of constraint.
• ·Scores describe relative development potential on the current evidence. They are not predictions, and planning judgement remains with the decision-maker.
• ·Local Plan positions move. A score is a snapshot of the date it was assessed, which is shown on every report.