Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement.

The report aimed to provide a review of the effectiveness of the Local Enforcement Plan which had been in place up to October 2024, and to review performance in relation to that plan. The report included a summary of the outcomes of a recent internal audit of the planning enforcement service and included updates on key performance statistics for planning enforcement. It also summarised the current budget available for planning enforcement. The Chair noted that the purpose of the discussion was to review the current position, which could then be used as a baseline for any future review of the new Local Enforcement Plan, agreed by Cabinet on 15 October 2024.

The discussion between councillors and officers covered several important issues from the current Local Enforcement plan and the service performance in the delivery of that plan, the key topics included:

·       Recognition of the value of the planning service and the importance of rectifying any breach of planning and to address the public perception of planning enforcement by ensuring effective action.

·       Budget and capacity issues and how that related to the current backlog of cases which would need to be brought down over time. The new Local Enforcement Plan would provide greater clarity around prioritisation of workload and additional resource had been requested to assist in clearing the backlog

·       Detailed discussion of the processes followed when plans were breached with an emphasis on non-material amendments. Concerns were raised around items being missed and the impact of that on public perception

·       Information was provided on the process of case allocation and management. A request was made for ward members to be notified of new enforcement cases, in a manner that was sensitive to data privacy.

·       The value of sharing progress and communication to improve service visibility within the public domain

·       The delivery of the online enforcement register which is on schedule for delivery at the end of 2024

·       Issues around lone working practices and officers' safety were considered.

Following the discussion, the Chair provided a summary of the key points raised as follows:

·       A review of the effectiveness of the new Local Enforcement Plan would be added to the committee work programme at an appropriate time

·       A need for review of communications around enforcement activity to ensure that there was understanding of the council’s role in this area

·       In respect of non-material amendments, consideration to be given to its definition and a request for notifications to be sent to ward councillors when applications were received for non-material amendments.