Agenda item

To consider the Local Development Scheme (Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation) report.

The Director of Planning introduced the report on the Local Development Scheme (LDS) which set out an amended draft timetable for the emerging Local Plan, following the recent announcement of a delay in the document’s production.

The Director of Planning said it had been confirmed that the Council was due to consult on its Regulation 18 “Preferred Options” document in November 2022, however senior officers identified shortcomings in the draft in September, when it was due to be published for consideration in the governance process. The Chief Executive added that he had been informed of the issues in the previous week and, once a decision was made to withdraw the document, Party Leaders were briefed on the following Tuesday morning and a press release was published on the Tuesday afternoon. During this period, there were no committees scheduled that an urgent decision could have been brought to. 

The Director of Planning said that the delay was not due to the work not being done, but rather that the document was not robust enough for consultation. He said this was due to various reasons including a lack of integration between different workstreams, ineffective engagement with members, a significant loss of local knowledge from the high turnover of staff and a lack of clarity in thinking as a whole.

Members discussed their concerns regarding the announcement of a short postponement to the Local Plan and agreed that proper process needed to be put in place to consider the lessons learnt. The following was noted:

• Some members said that it was undemocratic of the Chief Executive to have made the decision to withdraw the papers without proper consultation. They also felt unhappy that the opposition leaders were given very little time to digest the brief and many members were informed of the decision at the same time as the public when the press release was published. In response, the Chair apologised and said that the timeframe between the shortcomings coming to his attention and the decision being announced to the public was extremely small.  
• Members expressed concerns around the late discovery of the delay in the consultation document especially given the frequent, positive updates received by both committees, a review by an Independent Person and the LPLG being presented with half of the draft plan which members felt broadly made sense.
• There was a failure of accountability to the LPLG and Scrutiny Committees, as LPLG had not met for 6 months, and Scrutiny had not been provided with enough opportunity to identify problems in the evidence early on. Democratic accountability appeared to be through briefings with the LPLG Chair and relevant Portfolio Holder.
• The high staff turnover was particularly troubling, given that there remained the need for a stable team in order for the Local Plan process to work.

In response to further members questions about the new Local Development Scheme, officers clarified the following:

• The Local Plan team would not be restarting the process from scratch and their priority was to revaluate the evidence base and proposals in order to identify anything deemed inadequate or unrobust. They explained that to increase the chances of the plan being successful, the documents needed to be as robust as possible.
• The Interim Local Plan and New Communities Manager would take on the responsibility of Project Manager and would be supported by an existing Project Officer. Under the new arrangements, there would be more extensive reporting to the new Director of Planning and committees to ensure members were informed of the up to date position of the plan’s development.
• The Director of Planning would review the salaries and job descriptions of key posts in the Local Plan team with the hope that improvements would be made to encourage more permanent, long-term staffing arrangements. 
• In order for the draft Regulation 18 documents to be put out for consultation before the pre-election period (known as purdah), it would have needed to be published by 9^th February 2023 which in turn would require its approval through the governance cycle in December 2022. Officers felt that this was not enough time to conduct the work required to produce a robust consultation so decided to consult after the Local Elections in May 2023. 
• The timeline within the LDS had factored in the impact which the 2023 Local Election may have on Council and committee membership. There would be 10 weeks between the election and the Regulation 18 consultation, during which time the LPLG would be briefed on the final draft and any new members brought up to speed before the formal governance process began.
• Officers highlighted that the consultation would last for 6 weeks and would run from late August into September. The exercise was to encourage feedback from interested parties such as the public and Parish Councils and no final decisions on the emerging Local Plan would have been made by that point.

The Chair proposed that the votes would be cast for both recommendations at the same time and invited members from the LPLG and Scrutiny to vote.

All members voted in favour of the recommendations, except for Councillors Caton and Sell who registered their abstention.

RESOLVED:

1. To recommend that Cabinet adopts the revised LDS of the Local Plan.

2. To agree a new, closer alignment of LPLG/Scrutiny Committee oversight of the Local Plan process, with details to be discussed between the chairs.