Other Useful Tools

This page will provide useful tools that can be used by Local Planning Authorities to plan for social infrastructure (such as health and sports and cultural facilities) in Infrastructure Delivery Plans.

Planning for Health

NHS London Healthy Urban Development Unit

The NHS London Urban Development Unit (also known as "HUDU") was established in Feburary 2004 to help the NHS engage and be proactive in relation to the health and planning strategy agenda in London. The principal role of HUDO is to support all of the 31 NHS Primary Health Care Trusts across London.

HUDU has developed various models and toolkits for Local Planning Authorities to help achieve better planning for health.   

Health and Urban Planning Toolkit  

The toolkit sets out a step-by-step approach to improve the engagement between Primary Care Trusts and Local Planning Authorities. It also acts as a handbook on how the Local Development Framework and planning application process should address health.

The toolkit is available to download from the London HUDO website.

Social Infrastructure Framework (SIF)

The SIF addresses five broad social infrastructure sectors:

• Health and social care
• Education (early years/childcare, primary, secondary and adult)
• Libraries and community services
• Recreation and leisure services
• Emergency and essential services

SIF helps to work out what social infrastructure from these sectors is needed for new and existing communities, and where, when and how to best provide it to maximise the costs. It also helps to identify existing deficiencies.

London Thames Gateway SIF (LTG SIF) Example:

The LGT SIF was developed to establish an overall methodology through which social infrastructure needs and the delivery of new facilities could be considered as part of the process to create new 'sustainable communities' addressing the five sectors listed above.

To view the London Thames Gateway SIF project click here.

HUDO Model

The HUDO Model uses the numbers of proposed housing units in a development, and the likely resulting population and calculates the following:

• Amount of hospital beds or floor space required for that population in terms of acute elective, acute non-elective, immediate care, mental health and primary care;
• The capital cost of providing space; and
• The revenue costs of running the necessary services before mainstream NHS funding takes account of the new population.

NB: Access to the Model is only available via a user name and login issued by HUDU but is free to use for Health Care Trusts and Local Planning Authorities. For further information please click here.

A Guide to the NHS for Local Planning Authorities

The NHS has produced a factsheet entitled A Guide to the NHS for Local Planning Authorities. This provides Local Planning Authorities with an overview of how the NHS works, a guide to NHS trusts, and ways in which LPAs can engage with the NHS. 

To download a copy of the Factsheet click here.  

Planning for Sport

Sport England

Sport England provides a range of useful models and tools which can be used by Local Planning Authorities in planning for sports facilities.

Facilities Planning Model (FPM)

The FPM is a computer model which helps to assess the strategic provision of community sports facilities.

The Model has been developed as a means of:

• Assessing requirements for different types of community sports facilities on a local, regional or national scale
• Helping local authorities determine an adequate level of sports facility provision to meet their local needs
• Testing ‘what if’ scenario’s in provision and changes in demand, this includes testing the impact of opening, relocating and closing facilities and the impact population changes would have on the needs of the sports facilities.

The model seeks to assess whether the capacity of existing facilities for a particular sport are capable of meeting local demand for that sport taking into account how far people are prepared to travel to a facility. In order to estimate the level of sports facility provision in an area, the model compares the number of facilities (supply), by the demand for that facility (demand) that the local population will produce.

Sports Facility Calculator

The Sports Facility Calculator (SFC) is a planning tool which helps to estimate the amount of demand for key community facilities that is created by a given population.

The SFC has been created by Sports England to help local planning authorities quantify how much additional demand for key community sports facilities (swimming pools and sports halls), is generated by populations of new growth, development and regeneration areas. 

Acive Places Power 

Active Places Power is a planning tool for sports facilities. It is designed to assist in investment decisions and the development of infrastructure improvement strategies for sport.   
 

All the above model and tools can be accessed on Sport England's website.