What did I check?
The government's planning data platform publishes each council's local plans and their timetables as open data. It's the national record of where every local plan stands, and my Council Tracker takes its latest edition every week.
On 17 and 18 October 2026 I checked it against each council's own website, for all 310 planning authorities in England. For each one I looked at the adopted local plan and its date of adoption, and the plan the council is preparing and the latest step it has taken. 304 are now checked on both. Of the other six, two have no plan pages of their own, and four have pages that leave a date or a step unclear.
How often does it match on adopted plans?
About four times in five. Of 307 adopted plans checked, the national data matched the council for 243 and differed for 64.
- 21 councils had adopted a newer local plan that the national data didn't show yet, all of them in 2025 or 2026. Great Yarmouth adopted its new Local Plan on 24 September 2026, St Albans on 9 September 2026, and Uttlesford on 25 March 2026.
- 20 had their plan on record with no date of adoption.
- 9 had a different date. Norwich and South Norfolk both show 28 March 2024 for the Greater Norwich Local Plan, where the councils say they adopted it on 12 March and 25 March 2024. The Peak District shows 10 July 2011 for its Core Strategy, where the Authority says 7 October 2011.
- 7 showed a different document as the main plan. Broxtowe's record shows its Part 2 Local Plan of 2019, where its strategic plan is the Part 1 Core Strategy, adopted on 17 September 2014.
- 3 didn't show a later partial review (Westminster, Wandsworth, and Stevenage), and 4 differed in other ways.
How often does it match on plans in preparation?
About three times in ten. Of 305 plans in preparation checked, the national data matched the council for 94 and differed for 211.
- 76 were further on than the national data shows. Oadby and Wigston submitted its Local Plan 2025-2042 for examination on 12 June 2026. Exeter received its Inspectors' post-hearings letter in September 2026, while the national data still shows the plan as submitted.
- 84 councils are preparing a plan the national data doesn't show at all. Many are new plans started under the plan-making system that began in March 2026, at the notice of intention, scoping, or Gateway 1 stage.
- 24 show a plan in preparation that the council has since adopted, withdrawn, or paused. Erewash withdrew its Core Strategy Review on 22 January 2026, and the national data still shows it at examination.
- 17 show a later stage than the council does, mostly where a council has restarted its plan under the new system. Cheshire West and Chester's new plan page says its scoping consultation "replaces the previous work carried out under the legacy plan-making system".
- 7 matched on the stage but differed in the detail.
- 3 show no plan in preparation, where the council says its work is on hold or moving to the new system. East Cambridgeshire's Full Council put its new Local Plan on hold on 25 February 2025.
Why does the national data differ?
The platform holds what councils send it. A council publishes a step on its own website first, and the national record changes when the council updates it. The figures above are the size of that gap on two days in October 2026.
How did I check it?
I read each council's own website: its local plan page first, then the adoption statement, the plan timetable or Local Development Scheme, and committee papers where those said more. A joint plan's website, run by its councils, counted as theirs. News reports never counted as a source.
Every answer is recorded with the council's own words, the page they come from, and the date I read it, and every quote was checked word for word against the live page or document. Only a step the council says has happened sets a plan's stage, and dates are as the council gives them. AI tools helped read the pages, and the council's words beside each answer let anyone check it.
The full method is on the Council Tracker's About page.
Can a council's own pages be wrong too?
Sometimes. West Northamptonshire's web page gives 14 December 2014 for its Joint Core Strategy, and its adoption statement gives 15 December. Where the two differed, I followed the adoption statement. Bath and North East Somerset's plan timeline marked its Regulation 19 consultation "Not started" while the consultation was running, from 18 September to 30 October 2026.
Where can I see the checked data?
On the Council Tracker. Each council's page shows the council's own answer, marked "From the council's website" with its link and the date it was read, and the national entry beside it. It's checked again every week: councils whose national data changes, and every council at least every three months.
Common questions
Last updated 19 October 2026.