Agenda item

To agree the final wording regarding Member training requirements for Planning Committee.

The Democratic Service Manager detailed the report and recommended that the following change to Part 5 –Probity in Planning – clause 4.1 of the Constitution is recommended to Full Council for adoption:

Current wording:

Officers will arrange training on planning issues. All members of the Council

will be invited to attend. All members of the Planning Committee should

attend.

To be replaced with:

Officers will arrange an annual mandatory training session for Councillors who

are members or substitute members of Planning Committee. This training

must be undertaken before participating in decision making at Planning

Committee. All members of the Council who are not on Planning Committee

or a substitute member of Planning Committee will be invited to attend on a

voluntary basis.

Some Councillors raised concerns about making training compulsory and whether if insufficient training was completed Members would become incompetent to attend Planning Committee meetings.

Members discussed;

• Planning Committee Members were elected to represent residents and impose a democratic element.
• Planning Committee Members were provided with updated documents and planning guidance.
• The need for the proposal to be very carefully worded.
• The difference between competence and duty.
• The accepted competence of the current Planning Committee.
• The accepted procedure in place where new Members to the Planning Committee undertake planning training before being permitted to sit on the Planning Committee.
• Whether this proposal was a change to the Constitution or a guideline for Planning Committee members.
• Members did not object to undertaking the training.
• Members agreed that more training was required.
• The Development Manager already offered one to one training for new Members when the need arose.

Councillor Fairhurst advised that he had sought advice from two Queen`s Counsel Lawyers who have advised that a Member who did not attend training could result in an applicant at appeal claiming an unlawful decision and would have a valid case to overturn a judgement as they lacked competence to sit on the Committee.

The Planning Transformation Lead confirmed that this could not happen as a Member that had not attended the training would not be sitting on the Committee.

Councillor Freeman acknowledged Councillor Fairhurst`s concerns but noted that Planning Committee are quasi judicial and applicants have the right to have a Committee who know what they are talking about. Councillor Freeman confirmed that legitimacy lay within election, but further legitimacy was achieved by training.

The Chair clarified that this item demanded one training day for Members to update their knowledge and questioned why concerns had not been previously raised. She went on to confirm that provisions would be made for those unable to attend training due to illness.

The Planning Transformation Lead requested that Councillor Fairhurst shared the advice he had sought in writing and agreed to request a response from the Interim Legal Services Manager as particular issues of law had been raised.

The Planning Transformation Lead explained that the proposal was best practise

and was a recommendation from her in the knowledge that the designation was imminent. The designation was a shared responsibility between Officers and Members and the way decisions were made could be scrutinised and challenged in court.

The Development Manager explained that Members should expect training from the Council who are required to ensure that Planning Committee Members are adequately trained.

The Chair proposed to defer the item until the next meeting of the Planning Committee Working Group so that the Interim Legal Services Manager could be consulted regarding the use of the word “mandatory” in the Constitution and whether it was reasonable for the training to be compulsory.

The Chair requested that members promptly email the Planning Transformation Lead, the Development Manager and the Democratic Services Manager with proposed amendments to the wording.

AGREED to defer the item until the next meeting of the Planning Committee Working Group. Members agreed to promptly email the Planning Transformation Lead, the Development Manager and the Democratic Services Manager with proposed amendments to the wording.