Agenda item

PLANNING AND BUILDING CONTROL SERVICES PERFORMANCE

To receive the report of Perry Scott, Executive Director of Environment and Communities / Brett Leahy, Strategic Director of Planning and Growth.

Minutes:

Cllr Susan Erbil, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulatory Services, provided an introduction, noting that this item followed an update provided to Scrutiny Members at the beginning of the year and involving changes she had requested on becoming the relevant Cabinet Member. She expressed thanks to Brett Leahy and Karen Page for taking a lead and performing a service restructure.

 

Karen Page, Head of Planning & Building Control, introduced and highlighted key aspects of the report. The transformation of the Planning Service had begun in 2022 and had addressed the backlog of planning applications and enforcement cases and consequent customer dissatisfaction. The improvements in numbers of outstanding cases were illustrated. The majority of live cases were being determined within statutory timeframes. Officer caseloads had reduced significantly, also improving the wellness of officers. Appeals performance had also improved, and the target of successfully defending 80% of cases was now being met. A number of measures, including a Continuous Improvement Board, had been instrumental in the service improvement. Additionally, clear expectations had been set with agents and applicants. Officers were praised for embracing new working practices and for their hard work and commitment.

 

Planning Enforcement had also been transformed and was committed to dealing with planning breaches and closing cases quickly. An online reporting form helped standardize the process. The team now had more capacity to support other departments, such as HMOs without a proper licence or planning permission. Another workstream involved Community Infrastructure Levy (CiL) charges where developers had not made the payments that were due.

 

With faster service and more certainty on outcomes, more developers were wanting to invest in Enfield. The enforcement actions were also having noticeable impacts in local communities. The service was also getting outside recognition, including a recent Royal Town Planning award.

 

Aspirations for the future included for a 5-week case performance, which was anticipated being met before September 2025, and standardization of the s106 process. The service aimed to become financially self sufficient, and to obtain a replacement software system in time.

 

Questions were invited from the Panel.

 

The Chair and Panel thanked Cllr Susan Erbil and the officers and passed on congratulations for achieving the service improvements described.

 

In response to Members’ queries that there were sufficient staff to achieve the targets, it was confirmed that the right complement of staff was now in place and the service had been successful in filling permanent vacancies with good planners. There was constant review of performance against targets, and mitigation measures could be implemented straight away if needed.

 

Members raised the importance of keeping customers appraised of the progress on planning enforcement issues they reported. It was acknowledged that there had been issues around communication, and timescales could be difficult to predict, but the need to keep customers updated was being picked up particularly as officer capacity increased.

 

In response to Members’ queries on drops in performance when staff were sick or on leave, it was confirmed that the performance quickly caught up again and that average cases per officer were now a manageable 30 - 40 rather than 90 – 120 cases two years ago. Wellness of officers had been a key part of the project.

 

Members were advised that there was no longer a Head of Planning Enforcement, but leadership now comprised two area managers on the technical side to support team members on the case work, and a new line manager to operationally oversee the service.

 

In response to Members’ queries regarding CiL and s106 charges, it was confirmed that the service was reviewing all legacy / historic cases and proactively chasing down developers for payments owed to the Council.

 

Panel Members requested to receive more detail of the workstream in respect of CiL payments via email.

Action:  Karen Page

Supporting documents: