Agenda item

The report shares the plan to address the shortfall in the capacity of the planning applications service in the short-term.

The Director, Planning and Growth’s report and accompanying presentation on improving customer experience in planning and eliminating the planning applications backlog made at the meeting detailed the short-term plan to address the shortfall in the capacity of the planning applications service and set out the business case to improve Development Management in the Planning Department.             ACTION: Governance and Scrutiny Officer

The Cabinet Member, Licensing, Planning and Regulatory Services emphasised the necessity and importance that the Planning Department changed in the way in which it worked presently and to make the appropriate changes.  The plan would allow the Department to clear the current backlog of planning applications and to improve the professionalism and productivity of the Department for the benefit of residents, businesses, and Officers.

In response to questions from Members of the Committee, the Cabinet Member, Licensing, Planning and Regulatory Services confirmed that the recruitment of the additional Planning Officers had begun.  There was already one person in post, with five positions to fill.  Several applications for the positions had been received that week, with interviews planned.  It was crucial to the implementation and success of the plan that the additional Planning Officers were recruited.  On completion of the recruitment exercise, daily monitoring of the work of the Team and progress made would take place.

The Director, Planning and Growth acknowledged that Planning was a difficult to recruit area across the sector nationally.  There were many challenges, not least the pandemic and economy.  However, the Leader and Cabinet Member, together with senior management were alive to the risk should the recruitment exercise not be successful.  The plan included a change in the culture and leadership of the Planning Service, which would be implemented immediately and would remain in place.  Officers in the Planning Service wanted and needed to make the changes, which would give ownership and empowerment to Officer’s with the provision of sustainable workloads.  Officers had been seeking this resolution for some time, as the current situation did not allow room for them to exercise their professionalism and provide the service they wished to provide.  The plan would also respond to customer needs and would hold the Council to account.  There were many significant applications expected in the near future and the Council needed have the infrastructure, policies and procedures in place to deal with these effectively and professionally.

The Cabinet Member, Licensing, Planning and Regulatory Services confirmed that the Planning Service and Planning Officers were very positive and welcomed the proposal.  They wanted to change and wanted to see the changes implemented. 

The Committee welcomed the changes and expressed the view that it was important to involve councillors, who were aware of the current situation and, from queries received from residents the impact.  At the end of the six-month period, it was imperative that the improvements continued.  Members recognised that the improvements would allow additional and thorough checks to be in place and the identification and investigation of contraventions to planning approval and, where appropriate, allow enforcement action to be taken.  The view was expressed that the backlog of the planning applications was the cause of the symptoms, which needed to be addressed.

The Chair, on behalf Members requested that an update on the implementation of the changes be brought to the Committee and the work programme be noted.          

            ACTION: Director, Planning and Growth / Governance

AGREED that:

1. The next steps to hire six additional temporary planners for six months and create a Decision-Manager-level role to drive and embed process to increase productivity to remove the backlog of planning applications and to adopt a more effective and efficient form of working which met customers’ needs in the Council’s Planning Service be noted; and

2. An update report on the progress of the implementation of the plan be brought to the Committee at the appropriate time.