Issue - meetings

To consider the Review of the Planning Service report.

Cabinet is RESOLVED to:

Councillor Evans presented the Review of the Planning Service report, which outlined details relating to the peer review undertaken by the East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) and addressed how to improve the Council’s development management service. The report contained eight recommendations for implementation to improve the service. He said he had accepted Scrutiny Committee’s request to come back in 6 months’ time to provide an update on progress, and to also produce an implementation plan in readiness for the meeting in November. A number of actions had already been completed, or were near completion, including:

• The appointment of a Planning Transformation Lead.
• The imminent appointment of an Interim Director of Planning.
• Legal and senior planning posts had been created to assist the service.
• A new and improved Planning Committee report template and format would be introduced imminently.
• A Planning Committee member training programme was in development.
• The call-in procedure had been identified as an area in need of revision.

He said measures contained in the peer review were budgeted for and would be implemented as soon as possible. He proposed the recommendation set out in the report.

The Leader said planning had been identified as an area for improvement in the early days of the Administration; he thanked the interim and newly appointed Chief Executive for the speed at which they had moved this review forward.

Councillor Caton welcomed the recommendations in the report. He expressed disappointment that the 2018 peer review report had not been acted upon at the time. Furthermore, he said planning performance management issues should have been brought to Planning Committee in the past, and that opposition leaders should be kept informed of developments relating to the planning transformation project. He wished the Administration well with implementation of the recommendations and said he would remain a “critical friend”.  

The Leader agreed with Councillor Caton’s comments on the 2018 report. He said Councillor Caton was welcome to attend regular Group Leaders’ meetings for routine briefings.

Councillor Hargreaves said performance reports would nominally be considered by the Governance, Audit and Performance Committee.

The Chief Executive said planning performance indicators would be refined and revised in light of the report and the letter from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities setting out that the Council was failing in terms of the proportion of major planning applications overturned at appeal. He said the responsibility to improve the service would be a shared endeavour between the Executive, Planning Committee, officers and all members. There was a need to work together to get this process right.

Councillor Lees read out a statement on behalf of Councillor Pepper, who was not present, which said the planning service had dealt with some major issues in the past two years and it had been challenging for all involved. Furthermore, she highlighted the environmental reasons why unsustainable planning applications should be refused and said the Government’s Planning White Paper and housing algorithm should be reviewed. She was confident that the right personnel  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8

To consider the review of the Planning Service report.

The Chair asked the Committee to focus on how to move forward and to address and resolve problems rather than discuss what had happened in the past.

He said the report showed how difficult it was for residents to contact the department and be involved with the planning process.

Councillor Evans said that the Planning Service was a corporate function, which was vital to get right. 

He said that there were 8 recommendations directed at each of the main bodies, (Members, the Executive and paid staff).  He said the steps taken so far were shown on page 57, number 13 onwards.  He highlighted the following: -

·         Recruitment was completed or underway for: - 

a Transformation Lead Officer, Jeanette Walsh. 

a temporary Director -  there were 3 individuals being considered.

two Specialist Planning Lawyers

two Principal Planning Officers

·         Work had started on the Section 106, planning obligations.

·         Work had been undertaken regarding Idox.

·         The Planning Committee had started work on a new report format, the working party of the Planning Committee would be regularised.

·         Work continued as part of a partnership approach, to develop the model Memorandum of Understanding for landowners and developers of larger sites. 

·         Work had been undertaken with Highways England and Essex County Council.

·         Community engagement progressed including with the third tier Councils.

He said he would come back to the Committee in 6 months with a full report and  a plan to be achieved but he could not give specifics at this meeting of what recommendations would be completed or by when.

The Chief Executive said that he had received a letter from the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities.  The Council had exceeded the threshold for major applications lost at appeal.  This was not disputed or unexpected.  There was already the review of planning underway, and the Government required the commitment of the Council and an action plan to get back on track.  He said the solution would require change throughout the service, and did not relate to a small section of people but was a team challenge and required a team solution.

Councillor Le Count said he was concerned about the Council’s action plan and thought a review in 6 months was too late.  Members agreed.  The Chair said he wanted to see a detailed action plan with timelines, budget, who and how it would be managed, who would be accountable, how it would be monitored and how success would be determined.

Councillor Evans said there was a skeleton action plan from page 22 onwards, actions were identified and would be implemented.

He said the Transformation Lead Officer would be reporting every fortnight to him and the Chair of Planning Committee setting out accomplishments and seeking support on any how to resolve them.

Councillor De Vries left the meeting at 8pm.

In response to a question from Councillor Sell, the Director of Finance and Corporate Services confirmed that the report was incorrect and confirmed that the base budget had increased year on year.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29