Built Environment (Planning, Building Control, and Land Charges) Digital System
Case reference FOI2026/01046
Received 20 May 2026
Published 24 June 2026
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I kindly request the following information.
1. What Built Environment (Planning, Building Control, and Land Charges) digital System does your council currently use?
2. Are there any known limitations or challenges within your current Built Environment System (eg usability, reporting, integrations, configurability), if so, what?
3. When does the current contract for your Built Environment System expire?
4. What is the total contract value of your current Built Environment system (including any extensions)?
5. In light of the upcoming Local Government Reorganisation, has the council undertaken (or does it plan to undertake) any review, consolidation, or replacement of systems used within Built Environment services? If so, please provide details of the scope, expected timelines, and whether this activity is anticipated to be delivered within the first 12 months of reorganisation or as part of a longer-term (e.g. 3-year) plan.
Response
Please find the answers to your queries below:
1. What Built Environment (Planning, Building Control, and Land Charges) digital System does your council currently use?
Guildford Borough Council utilises Idox Acolaid for Planning, Building Control and Land Charges and is currently in the process of upgrading to IDOX cloud.
2. Are there any known limitations or challenges within your current Built Environment System (eg usability, reporting, integrations, configurability), if so, what?
Some of the challenges with our current system (Acolaid) include limited single-sign-on capability, no mobile application, limited graphical interface configurability and limited mapping (GIS) integration.
3. When does the current contract for your Built Environment System expire?
The IDOX cloud contract expires on 31 March 2031.
4. What is the total contract value of your current Built Environment system (including any extensions)?
£493,674.45.
5. In light of the upcoming Local Government Reorganisation, has the council undertaken (or does it plan to undertake) any review, consolidation, or replacement of systems used within Built Environment services? If so, please provide details of the scope, expected timelines, and whether this activity is anticipated to be delivered within the first 12 months of reorganisation or as part of a longer-term (e.g. 3-year) plan.
The Local Government Reorganisation applicable from 1 April 2027 intends to review all contracts across Surrey for consolidation opportunities. Details of the timelines for each contract is not currently known and will be handled by the West Surrey Authority.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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