Agenda item

(Report of the Assistant Director for Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for  Planning) The report will seek to  obtain approval from Cabinet of the review of, and proposed changes to, the Council’s pre-application planning advice services reported to Regulatory Committee on 15 January 2015.  The review has been undertaken in the context of the priorities set out in the Corporate Plan 2015-2018 and the Development Management Improvement Plan as set out in the annexed “Supporting high quality development in Haringey – Our pre-application advice services at Appendix and new charges for Building Control Services.

The Cabinet member for Planning  introduced the report and explained that

The Regulatory Committee considered a report on 15 January 2015 setting out details of the  review of and proposed changes to the Council’s pre-application planning advice services to align with priorities set out in the Corporate Plan and Development Management Improvement Plan and new proposed charges for Building Control services. The Committee supported the proposed charges and changes to the service.

Cabinet noted that the  scope, quality and value of the pre-application advice service has been reviewed in the context of Government Planning Practice Guidance 2014 and best practice.  It is intended to introduce a more tailored, customer focussed service approach including the provision of advice at the feasibility stage of householder proposals and to make improvements in the information and signposting provided on the Council website. The new service offer aims to reduce the costs experienced by householders in not getting it right first time, improve the quality of planning applications coming forward and the likelihood of success for both householders and commercial businesses.  Proposals have been developed for a new charging regime for the redesigned pre-application service following a benchmarking exercise with other authorities.  New charges aim to recover the cost of providing the advice, with an exemption for micro businesses and a discount to small and medium businesses.  Subject to Cabinet approval, the new charges would come into effect on 1 April.

RESOLVED

        i.            That  the charges as set out in “Supporting high quality development in Haringey – Our pre-application advice services” set out at Appendix 2 for use by the Planning Service with effect from 1 April 2015  be adopted.

      ii.            That  the Building Control charges set out Tables 6, 7, 8 and 9 set out at Appendix 1 for use by the Building Control Service with effect from 1 April 2015;  be adopted and 

    iii.            That Cabinet reviews annually the fees and charges set out therein.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing

·         The Planning service could continue to provide free Duty Planning advice to householders and keep fees for commercial applicants at the current level.

·         However, the Planning service is committed to making £75,000 in savings, as set out in the Medium Term Financial Strategy in 2015/16. This saving cannot be accommodated within the service budget without a reduction in officer resources, which would lead to a reduction in capacity for non statutory services including planning advice. .

·         While the Planning service is committed to providing the best advice to customers that it possibly can, the existing walk in service does not allow officers a chance to carry out background research on the property, or take account of other supporting materials from the client which could enhance the service customers get.

·         A recent ‘Deep Dive’ session with the Council’s Corporate Delivery Unit has identified that the Planning service faces pressures on officer workloads as caseloads per officer have risen significantly every year. Applicants who are refused planning permission the first time around are allowed to re-submit applications for free a second time. This ‘failure-demand’ also increases the case loads of officers and the pressures on the service, and stress for applicants.

·         To enable the planning service to meet its commitments to make £75,000 of savings, the planning service would have to reduce its budget elsewhere. This would  increase the pressures on the service and put at risk the performance of the planning department, comparative to other boroughs.

 Do something else

·         The option outlined could be reconfigured with an alternative charging regime. The current regime has had regard to the emergent corporate plan priorities and London wide benchmarking. Whilst it would be possible to provide an alternative charging regime to secure associated cost recovery, the current regime is considered to strike an appropriate balance across the development sector.

Reasons for Decision

The Corporate Plan promotes a confident, new vision for Haringey including a more collaborative and constructive relationship with our service users and residents. The changes to the Planning Advice Service have been prompted by a fundamental reappraisal of our users needs, coupled with a reappraisal of the costs in delivering the planning service (and the avoidable elements of costs that will help improve value for money). The proposals reflect our commitment to supporting pre-application discussions. The last significant review of the pre-application advice service was undertaken in 2008 and on 18 March 2008 the Cabinet agreed to the introduction of a more formalised service and associated charging regime for Pre-application planning advice and the introduction of the use of Planning Performance Agreements for major proposals. These proposals will bring the charges and the service offer “up to date” and help realise the shared objective within the corporate plan to support high quality housing and growth across the Borough.