UK Planning Gateway has passed its Cyber Essentials assessment. It’s a UK Government-backed scheme that checks a company’s core IT security against a set of practical, auditable standards. For us, it’s more than a badge. It shows that the systems which handle planning applications, maps, and customer data are built on a hardened baseline.

Why this matters to our customers

Planning applications involve sensitive material: drawings, ownership documents, payment details, and correspondence with councils. By securing Cyber Essentials certification, we can show homeowners, architects, and local authorities that those assets are stored and processed within a platform that has been independently verified against common cyber threats.

In practice, this means:

• Our servers and devices are set up with secure configurations, not left on default settings.
• Updates and patches are applied routinely to keep systems resilient.
• Accounts use role-based access, so data is only available to people who need it.
• Anti-malware and firewall protections are consistently applied across the estate.

Benefits for councils and partners

Public bodies often ask for Cyber Essentials when procuring digital services. By holding certification, UK Planning Gateway reduces the admin barrier to working with councils. It also assures IT and procurement teams that the platform which integrates Ordnance Survey mapping, planning forms, and validation tools has been checked by an accredited assessor.

Reassurance for homeowners and professionals

For applicants and agents, certification is a signal that your planning application is handled with the same level of care you expect from financial services or other online portals. The measures behind Cyber Essentials: strong access controls, routine patching, and secure device standards, are the same measures that prevent the vast majority of breaches seen in small and medium organisations.

How this fits with AskArchi and our wider platform

AskArchi, our AI planning assistant, and the wider submission platform run inside the same protected environment. That means the data you provide: addresses, project details, and drawings; are shielded by the same baseline. Logs, permissions and monitoring apply across the system, not just to individual modules.

Why we pursued it now

With the platform scaling and more councils coming on board, this was the right moment to lock in a standard baseline. Passing Cyber Essentials means we can move into those conversations without slowing down on basic security due diligence. It also shows our customers that UK Planning Gateway isn’t just focused on speed and clarity in planning, it’s equally serious about the security that underpins it.