FOI Intelligence Engine
Submit Freedom of Information requests to Local Planning Authorities, track responses, and build your planning intelligence database.
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What is FOI Intelligence?
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you the right to request any information held by a public authority, including Local Planning Authorities. This is a powerful tool for planning intelligence.
Why Use FOI in Planning?
- Pre-application advice: Discover what advice has been given for similar sites or proposals in the area
- Officer reasoning: Understand how officers assess applications and what factors drive decisions
- Committee dynamics: See how committees vote, what arguments persuade them, and which members are most active
- Performance data: Get hard data on decision times, officer caseloads, and approval rates by type
- Enforcement patterns: Understand how actively an LPA enforces planning conditions
- S106 precedents: See what contributions have been agreed for similar developments
How It Works
1. Choose what information you need from our template library. 2. Generate a customised FOI letter. 3. Send it to the LPA (most accept email). 4. Track the response in your dashboard. 5. The LPA must respond within 20 working days.
Important: FOI requests are free. The LPA cannot charge you for the first 18 hours of staff time. If they estimate the cost will exceed the threshold (currently GBP 450 for local government), they may refuse the request.
Generate FOI Letter
What to Ask For
These are the most valuable FOI requests you can make to Local Planning Authorities. Click on any subject to generate a template letter.