Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Head of Legal Services.

The committee received a report of the Head of Legal Services which provided information about the current Local Land Charges service, improved search response times and further action to be taken.  It was noted that significant progress had been made by the land charges team, who had reduced response times, details of which were provided in the report.

Councillors considered the issues covered in the report and during discussion, the following points were noted:

·       Current fee levels would continue for now but could be reviewed once the service was back to a steady and sustained position

·       Staffing issues and associated costs were noted

·       Further efficiencies would be made as part of work on the Planning Transformation Project and updates would be provided to members as appropriate

·       It was hoped to reduce search times to the Government set target of 10 working days within the next couple of months

·       Customer contact methods with the team were noted

·       Support was expressed for the work undertaken by the team and the progress that had been made.