Agenda and minutes

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the ‘meeting room’, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Reg Rice who was unable to attend due to other Council business.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under item 9 below).

There were no items of urgent business.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution

There were no deputations / petitions / presentations / questions.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Strategic Planning Committee meeting held on 14 June 2022 as a correct record.

RESOLVED

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Strategic Planning Committee meeting held on 14 June 2022 as a correct record.

To consider a report on the work of Planning and Building Control up to September 2022.

The Assistant Director of Planning, Building Standards, and Sustainability introduced the report which provided an update on the work of the Planning and Building Control Service for Quarter 2.

The Head of Development Management provided an update in relation to development management as set out in the report. It was noted that performance remained high, including 100% performance for processing major applications on time. There had been a slight decline in performance for Other and PS0 applications. However, it was considered that the overall results were strong, given the significant increase in applications and the turnover of staff.

It was explained that officers were tackling the backlog of cases but that this had resulted in some increases in the time taken to validate an application and the end to end times. It was noted that case loads per officer were currently around 62, compared to 52 in the previous year, and overall cases were around 748, compared to 626 in the previous year. It was added that there were currently 237 applications which had not been determined within 26 weeks; these were mainly complex cases but efforts were being made to finalise these applications.

In relation to pre-application advice, it was explained that there was often unpredictability in when this was requested and processed which meant that it might be different each year, although it was anticipated that this year would be comparable to the previous year.

The Head of Development Management explained that the threshold for designation from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC), where improvement in performance was required, was 10% of the total decisions made. It was confirmed that the Council had avoided designation for the period 2019-2021. It was noted that the figures predicted by officers differed significantly from the figures published by the government; although the calculations were difficult to understand, the Council was showing improved performance in the government figures and officers would be working to discern the differences.

In relation to planning enforcement, it was reported that the complaints and notices for the quarter were similar to the previous quarter and there were no significant changes to note. In response to a previous request, complaint performance was included in the report. It was noted that there had been some staff shortages in the Customer Services Team which meant that the performance figures for complaints had suffered; it was anticipated that normal staffing levels and the migration to the new planning system would result in improved figures. However, it was noted that 97% of decisions were being made on target, compared to 91% last year, which was positive.

In response to questions from the Committee, it was noted:

·         Members were welcome to suggest topics for upcoming training.

·         In relation to the performance figures in section 5.19 of the report, it was explained that these often took months to update, particularly where any legal proceedings were involved, and did not necessarily reflect recent performance.

·         Some members asked whether there were any steps  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive a briefing note on the new Planning and Building Control system.

The Committee considered the report which provided an update on the new Planning and Building Control system. It was noted that the public-facing webpages and back-office system for planning and building control applications would be moving to a new system in late 2022. It was explained that the existing system was coming to the end of its life and would no longer be supported by the supplier. It was highlighted that the new system would provide an improved experience and it was not anticipated that there would be many significant or noticeable changes. It was added that some benefits of the new system were set out in the report.

In response to questions from the Committee, the following responses were provided:

·         It was noted that the migration to the new system would involve some downtime but this would be minimised as much as possible.

·         Some members noted that responses to member enquiries were sometimes difficult to track as they generally did not contain the original request or reference number. The Assistant Director of Planning, Building Standards, and Sustainability noted that member enquiries were processed separately, outside of the new digital planning system, but highlighted that officers had been reminded to include the relevant background information in responses.

·         In response to a query, the Head of Development Management explained that the layout of plans and images was generally dependant on the materials that were submitted by developers. It was noted that the new planning system had a variety of updated technology and that display options could be investigated.

·         In relation to decision notices, some members noted that the email notifications were sometimes confusing and did not contain useful, identifying information. The Head of Development Management commented that the new system would be better at linking reference numbers and it would be investigated whether emails could set out why a member was receiving an email; for example, whether they were being notified as a ward councillor or as an objector.

RESOLVED

To note the report.

There were no items of urgent business.

To note the dates of future meetings:

20 February 2023

To note the dates of future meetings:

20 February 2023