*HC 18/21
The lead Hub Committee Member introduced
her verbal update and advised the meeting that:
-
a service review had
been invoked to deliver improvements in service performance and
quality;
-
an Improvement Plan
had been drafted and a Review Board established;
-
a report on the
outcome of the Review would be presented to a meeting of the Hub
Committee in the Autumn;
-
whilst not a formal
review undertaken by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS), the
organisation was providing some support
on: improving customer service and communication and the delivery
of the Improvement Plan;
-
progress was being
made in the recruitment of officers to fill the vacancies in both
planning enforcement and development management;
-
the validation process was critical. The lead Member advised that extensive officer
time was wasted as a result of over 50% of planning applications
being invalid and, in recognition of the importance of validation,
an additional 2 Case Managers had been assigned to support the
process;
-
the backlog of
planning applications was currently reducing;
-
further improvements
were anticipated in line with the roll-out of the new IT
system;
-
the pre-application
process was being reviewed;
-
a Memorandum of
Understanding with town and parish councils was being drafted for
consultation; and
-
the relationship with the Council’s internal consultees
was also being reviewed and the support that was being provided by
Ecology Officers at Devon County Council was already realising benefits.
In debate, the following points were
raised:-
(a)
Based upon recent
experiences, Members expressed their wish that, wherever possible,
work was kept in-house and not outsourced;
(b)
It was noted that the
matter of invalid planning applications was a national
issue. In terms of mitigating measures,
holding a workshop with planning agents and retaining an
administrative (cost recovery) fee from invalid applications were
currently being considered;
(c)
The pre-application
process was felt to be a very important component on the planning
service.
(NOTE: THESE DECISIONS WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM
THURSDAY, 22 JULY 2021, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MINUTE HC 16/21 WHICH
IS A RECOMMENDATION TO THE COUNCIL MEEITNG TO BE HELD ON 20 JULY
2021, UNLESS CALLED IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SCRUTINY PROCEDURE RULE
18)