Microsoft Fabric supports 1st Planner with real-time decision making for public sector transformation

RESULTS

500-Page Reports to Live Dashboards

Static, manual reports replaced with interactive Power BI dashboards accessible to staff and customers in real time.

Faster, Evidence-Based Decisions

A unified data platform with full audit trail enables confident, accurate planning for both mainstream and SEND provision.

A Scalable Business Platform

Microsoft Fabric enables 1st Planner to take on more projects simultaneously and expand into additional sectors.

“Transparity has really helped us increase efficiencies and save time in our workloads and will enable us to scale the business as we automate our processes. Our education providers will now get faster data analysis and reports in very accessible formats to support their strategic planning.”

Rob Tozer
Managing Director, 1st Planner

Project summary

1st Planner, a specialist organisation focused on population planning, school estate efficiency and funding identification, was managing large volumes of complex data across a fragmented set of tools including Excel, AutoCAD, QGIS and PowerPoint. As demand for its services grew, manual reporting became a bottleneck — preventing the team from scaling and limiting the quality of insight it could deliver to education providers.

With Transparity’s support, 1st Planner implemented Microsoft Fabric with Power BI to create a unified, AI-enabled data platform. Reports that previously ran to over 500 pages are now delivered through interactive dashboards, enabling faster decisions, greater scalability and improved outcomes for mainstream and SEND pupils across local authorities, dioceses and multi-academy trusts.

The Challenge

While mainstream pupil place planning is typically well structured, planning provision for SEND pupils is more complex and less systematic. Increasing demand and the lack of a defined approach made it difficult to accurately plan and allocate resources.

1st Planner works with large volumes of data, from pupil numbers and estate provision to long-term trends, calculating supply and demand across multiple client types. Previously, this data was managed across various tools, including Excel, SketchUp, AutoCAD, QGIS, Google Earth Pro, Adobe and PowerPoint.

This fragmented approach made analysis time-consuming and limited the organisation’s ability to scale. Producing detailed reports required significant manual effort, often resulting in large, static documents that were difficult to update or interrogate. As demand for their services grew, this created a bottleneck, preventing the team from taking on more projects.

“We had initially engaged a software provider to build a bespoke data system, but ultimately it did not meet our needs. At the same time, we were upskilling our novice data development staff to take on complex data projects themselves and really needed to give these staff the right technology to more easily access, manage and act on data.” — Rob Tozer, Managing Director, 1st Planner

The Solution

1st Planner implemented Microsoft Fabric to create a unified data platform, enabling faster access to data, reduced integration effort, and improved governance and security.

Power BI dashboards were introduced to provide intuitive, interactive visualisations, allowing both staff and customers to explore and act on data more effectively. This eliminated the need for manual, static reporting and replaced it with dynamic, real-time insights.

Initially engaged to administer Fabric licences, Transparity also provided guidance and training to help 1st Planner’s team build capability internally. This enabled staff to become self-sufficient in managing and using the platform.

As a result, the organisation can now handle more projects simultaneously and deliver insights faster. Reports that previously extended to over 500 pages can now be accessed through interactive dashboards, making data far more accessible and actionable.

“Microsoft Fabric with Power BI allows us to increase the volume of projects we can deliver. Previously we were working manually using Excel and numerous other tools. Fabric bridges this gap so everyone is accessing data using a single platform.” — Rob Tozer, Managing Director, 1st Planner

“We are already working with two local authorities who are using the Power BI dashboards to access their own provisioning data. Seeing reports presented in such a visual, usable way is ground-breaking for them.” — Rob Tozer, Managing Director, 1st Planner

The Outcome

Faster decision-making

With relevant data unified in one platform, customers can benchmark across different organisations and make faster, more informed decisions on pupil planning and estate provision.

Confidence in evidence-based data

A full audit trail of data sources provides assurance that decisions are based on accurate, transparent information.

Impactful and visual reporting

Interactive dashboards allow staff and customers to explore data through intuitive charts and graphs, replacing static reports.

Scalability of the business

The Microsoft Fabric platform enables 1st Planner to increase project capacity, expand services, and support additional sectors by making data more accessible and processes more efficient.

About 1st Planner

1st Planner is a specialist organisation focused on population planning, school estate efficiency, and funding identification. It supports education providers, including local authorities, dioceses, and multi-academy trusts, in identifying and creating school places for both mainstream and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) pupils. The organisation combines population forecasting with estate capacity planning and funding analysis to help ensure education provision meets demand without overspending on capital or revenue budgets.