Agenda item

To receive a presentation on the proposed improvements to the planning service.

24.1           The Chair welcomed Annette Roberts, Head of Development Services, to the meeting and indicated that she would be giving an update on the review of the planning service.

24.2           Members received a presentation which covered the following key points:

·      Planning Service Review – Three strands: Planning Advisory Service (PAS) data capture – national benchmarking and data sets to see how the Council was doing and compare with other similar authorities; procedure review and analysis i.e. why were things done in the way they were and what could be done to improve them; and customer service improvements e.g. answering the telephone within a certain number of rings, making it easier for customers who did not use the planning service on a regular basis.

·      Principles Behind the Review – Delivery of service in a resilient manner; maximise best use of resources; improve procedures; retain and attract quality staff; drive improvements to service; best planning service; deliver growth ambitions; and offer a customer orientated service.

·      Data Collection Information – Report - cost, income, productivity and performance; benchmarking; analysis, opportunity identification; and change and improvement work.

·      Procedure Review and Enhancement – Critically looking at the Development Management Service end to end; interviewing/discussing the service with Officers to gain their perspective; identifying key areas that may need further investigation e.g. pre-application, validation, application assessment, decision-making including conditions and Section 106; suggesting approaches to service improvement, identifying other relevant good practice or templates where appropriate; and identifying areas where service sharing, joint working and/or a consistent approach to service standards would, or may, be beneficial for the service/s and customers.

·      Customer Service – Telephone calls capture exercise i.e. how many do we get, what type of enquiries; research into IT in Planning Awards; benchmark quality service based on IT systems; feedback forms – create feedback forms to be sent out with decision notices; create a Tewkesbury Borough Council ‘Apply for Planning’ factsheet; create a standard signature for all pre-application responses; forms/prompt sheets for duty planning appointments; publish planning information i.e. number of houses approved, number of planning applications dealt with etc.; enforcement plan – to help the public understand how it was dealt with and the procedures that were followed; planning interactive map to enable customers to self-serve; Parish briefings on applications; planning forums.

·      Next Steps – First draft of PAS work received today; reports on key strands of work expected early summer; provide information to joint and independent reviews; implement service improvement towards end of year (“quick wins” would be implemented straight away); Member forums and agent/architect forums in the autumn.

24.3           A Member expressed the view that Parish Councils needed more assistance and training and this was echoed by several other Members of the Committee.  The Head of Development Services advised that she had been to see a number of Parish Councils in relation to specific applications but she agreed that a more formal approach was needed in terms of how they dealt with applications and their relationship with the Planning Team.  Parish Council involvement was particularly important in relation to Section 106 contributions as they understood the wants and needs of their communities.   Linked to this, another Member felt that there was a misconception among the public that Parish Councils were responsible for determining planning applications.  The Head of Development Services recognised that this had been a problem in the past and it was important that both applicants, and neighbours, understood how the process worked.  This could be achieved through putting information on the website and including links to that within neighbour notification letters.  A Member raised concern that the method which allowed Councillors to track a particular application had been changed and he felt this should have been communicated to Members prior to implementation.  The Head of Development Services indicated that she was unaware of this situation but she undertook to look into it following the meeting.

24.4           A Member questioned whether the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would have any input into the potential changes to the planning service and the Head of Development Services confirmed that the service improvement plans would be brought to the Committee.  She was keen to obtain input from all Members and intended to set up a separate briefing session as well as consulting with the Planning Committee.  The Member felt that it was important for target dates to be attributed to the various actions arising from the review and he was assured that there was an action plan in place for each of the three strands of the review; this was a dynamic document that could be added to as new ideas arose and the Head of Development Services indicated that she would be very happy to share this at the appropriate time. 

24.5           Several Members raised concern regarding customer service and it was suggested that it might be beneficial to employ Officers with skills in this particular area.  Members were informed that more interviews would be taking place over the next couple of months and the department would shortly be up to full complement.  The Council had previously employed a Duty Planning Officer who worked from a dedicated planning reception and this was an option that could be considered during the review.  It was noted that there would be a need to look at this in relation to the Growth Hub.  In terms of moving forward with existing staff, the Head of Development Services recognised that there had been an issue historically with answering the telephone and responding to customers; this required a cultural change which she was keen to see implemented as swiftly as possible.  If there were any specific incidents which Members had concerns about then she asked to be made aware of them so she could ensure they were addressed. A Member expressed the opinion that, to achieve the goal of attracting and retaining quality staff, the Council would need to offer more attractive packages in order to compete with the private sector.  He pointed out that a number of experienced Officers who had started their careers with the authority at a junior level had recently left to work in the private sector so retention was a particular concern.

24.6           The Chair thanked the Head of Development Services for her update and indicated that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s role was to act as a critical friend and Members were keen to support the review in order to drive forward improvement.  It was

RESOLVED          That the update in respect of the review of the planning service be NOTED.