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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled, Experimental AI could help councils meet housing targets by digitising records, published on 19 April 2025, for how long after digitisation will local authorities be expected to retain paper records.

Local planning authorities should consider several factors in the retention of their records. These include compliance with statutory requirements such as the General Data Protection Regulation, the Freedom of Information Act, the Environmental Information Regulations, the requirement to hold evidence until the threat of a legal challenge has passed under the Limitation Act 1980, operational purposes and historic interest.

In general, digital and hard copy records have the same status.

The 19 April 2025 press release is focused on the AI tool ‘Extract’ and its ability to help councils convert decades-old, handwritten planning documents and maps into data in minutes.

On the 9 June 2025, as part of London Tech Week, the Prime Minister announced the government’s intention to roll Extract out across the country by Spring 2026. As part of this long-term transition to digital ways of working the Department will consider how paper records should be dealt with.