# Unsearchable council records

Residents can't find what their council decided

Problem 0022 · Public sector · Theme: Access · What it would take: A hackathon · Scope: Local · Editorial grade: Notable · Framed 21 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026 · Framed by Ainna's innovation team

Local government publishes its decisions (planning, licensing, budgets, minutes) and publishing is where the obligation stops. They arrive as scanned documents with inconsistent names, in systems searchable only if you already know what you are looking for. A decision that changes a street is technically public and practically private.

## Who lives with it

Residents and neighbourhood groups · local reporters · small developers and community organisations

## Why now

Local newsrooms have continued to close in many markets, removing the layer that used to read these documents on everyone else's behalf.

## Why it matters

The information is already public, already funded and already digital. Making it findable is a data problem rather than a political one, which is why it is tractable, and why it keeps falling between mandates.

## Cite it

“Residents can't find what their council decided.” Ainna Problem Radar, problem 0022, 21 September 2026. https://ainna.ai/problems/residents-cannot-find-what-their-council-decided

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