PAPER C2
Committee: ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING, TOURISM AND LEISURE SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE
Date: 22 AUGUST
2002
Title: SERVICE
PLANS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS – PLANNING AND BUILDING CONTROL
REPORT OF
THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE AND ENVIRONMENT SERVICES
SUMMARY / PURPOSE :
This report summarises information
on the 2002/03 Service Plan for the Planning and Building Control Service
(including Countryside, Archaeology, AONB and
Admin Support), together with information and commentary on past performance in
2001/02.
Whilst some of the service areas above do not normally report to this Select Committee (Development Control/ Building Control), it is considered appropriate to report the Service Plan as a whole, as targets and objectives of one part of the service may well have implications for, or impact upon, various parts of the overall service.
It may be appropriate to discuss
in detail individual service areas at further Select Committees.
Service Plans have been prepared
to a standard format for all major service areas within the authority. The
Plans contain a range of information including :
Following preparation of a Corporate
Plan (draft approved for consultation at Executive on July 2nd
2002), a revised Service Plan format is to be introduced for the next financial
year – this will ensure that service activities directly link to the approved
corporate goals.
The Council also collects a
diverse range of information regarding service performance through both
national and local Performance Indicators (PIs) which are published each year
in the Best Value Performance Plan (BVPP). In the 2001/02 BVPP, a “traffic light” system has been introduced to
classify PIs by the following categories :
Attached
to this report (Annex 1), members will find summary information for the
following service areas :
Development
Control:
·
Processing and determination of
planning applications.
·
Processing and administering
appeals.
·
Conservation/listed
buildings/regeneration.
Planning
Policy:
·
Preparation of statutory planning
policy.
·
Monitoring and review of UDP.
·
To provide a research and
information service on population, housing land use and wider development
issues. Analysis of census and other
information services. Development of social
audit database.
Countryside:
·
Administering the TPO system to
unauthorised felling/works.
·
Provision of a Countryside
Management Service, including site management, ecological and countryside
advice and environmental education.
·
Estuary management through the
Estuary Project.
Archaeology:
·
Provision of the Archaeology
Service.
Building
Control:
·
Registration and determination of
Building Control applications and inspection of building works in progress.
·
Taking appropriate action in
respect of dangerous structures, demolitions, and means of escape in case of
fire and contraventions of Building Regulations.
·
Undertake inspections and write
reports for other Council sections, including Licensing, Registration Unit,
Development Control and carry out access audits of Council buildings.
Support
Services:
·
Provision of administrative
support for the Seaclose Building.
Provision of computer maintenance, development and support for Seaclose
building. OS liaison.
·
Co-ordination of building
maintenance and health and safety at Seaclose.
·
Reception Service.
AONB:
·
Development and implementation of
new statutory AONB Management Plan.
·
Promotional activity through
articles in Wight Insight (Countryside News), quarterly news sheet, website, guided walks, standard AONB talk, and
attendance at key annual events (Walking Festival, Garlic Festival,
Agricultural Show) etc.
·
Provision of AONB advice in
respect of planning applications and other development proposals.
·
Co-ordinating and advising on
local authority services in the AONB, to go beyond the normal level of service
in countryside management. Encourage
all public bodies in their new “duty of regard”.
·
Accessing resources for
undertaking management activities, including external financing, project
development and proposals, and providing matched funding for special projects.
The
information provided in Annex 1 includes:
Members
should note the following:
The Planning and Building Control Service Plan incorporates the service
areas of development control, planning policy, building control, countryside, archaeology, AONB and admin support.
This service plan was compiled prior to the appointment of the new post
of Head of Planning Services.
Some of the objectives/aims in Section 11 are identified as being the
responsibility of Paul Airey.
Responsibility for these objectives will need to be reviewed.
The current Service Plan does not yet include up-to-date information
concerning the County Archaeological Service.
More information will be included in any revised Service Plan.
Members are invited to comment upon the Service Plan. Areas for enquiry
may include:
Also
attached to this report (Annex 2), are the Performance Indicators for the
Select Committees areas of responsibility. These have been categorised into the
4 “traffic light” groupings described earlier. A fifth category (“unclassified)
has been added to include those PIs where it is not possible to make a
performance judgement. (Local service targets/indicators are not included
within this classification).
The
following comments should be noted:
1.
Better than average and
improving
The service has consistently achieved a higher than average score for development on brownfield land. This is not surprising given that the UDP has well defined development envelopes, outside of which new development is restricted to a minimum. As yet the large greenfield allocations within the UDP have not come forward and this has further impacted upon the results of BV106. It is anticipated that as brownfield land resources are used up the indicator will drop, hence the lower target expected for 2004/05.
2.
Better than average and
worsening
See the comments below.
3.
Worse than average and
improving
We have
failed to achieve our national target of 80% of planning applications processed
within eight weeks. Improvement was
apparent for 2001/2002, and continuing improvement is being addressed through improved delegation processes,
concentrated targeting of resources and a close examination of processes and
how these can be improved and streamlined. Opportunities for document imaging
and delivery of service through E-government are being examined.
Directorate
Management Group agreed to monitor the new development control indicators on a
quarterly basis, and the table below shows the results for quarter 1 of
2002/03.
|
Ref: |
Description |
2001/02 Actual |
Quarter 1 |
Change (% points) |
02/03 Target |
|
109 |
Percentage of applications
determined within 8 weeks |
60.6% |
69% |
+9 |
*- |
|
109a |
Percentage of planning
applications determined in line with the Government’s new development control
targets to determine 60% of major applications in 13 weeks |
20.4% |
30% |
+9.6 |
45% |
|
109b |
Percentage of planning
applications determined in line with the Government’s new development control
targets to determine 65% of minor applications in 8 weeks |
52.4% |
63.8% |
+11.4 |
55% |
|
109c |
Percentage of planning
applications determined in line with the Government’s new development control
targets to determine 80% of other applications in 8 weeks. |
71.3% |
75.9% |
+4.6 |
74% |
|
110 |
Average time taken to determine
all applications (weeks) |
17.7 |
6.8 |
+61.5 |
*- |
|
188 |
The number of decisions
delegated to officers as a percentage of all decisions (target 90%) |
80.1% |
83.7% |
+3.6 |
84% |
*
Indicators deleted from 2001/02
** Local indicators deleted from 2001/02,
but continue to be collected for Service Plans.
In particular the following should be noted:
· First quarter results show an improvement in all areas, and in particular indicators 109a & b.
· For indicators 109b, 109c and 188, the section is achieving above or close to its target level for 2002/03.
·
National targets for 109a, b and c are 60%, 65% and 80%
respectively. Whilst our performance
for 109a still falls somewhat short of the national target, it would not be
unreasonable to suggest that based on current evidence we should be able to
achieve national targets for 109b and c by the end of the year. This is a much-improved situation than
targeted for 2002/03.
A report to the Development
Control committee in May 2002, set out the following to be considered/put in
place to improve performance further:
·
The new Head of Planning Services intends to evaluate the
need to appoint a new principal officer to lead on major applications.
·
We are in the process of advertising for a graduate to fill
the one vacant career post, and hope to make an appointment before the arrival
of the Head of Planning Services.
·
Response times of internal consultees, particularly Highways
(Development Control), remain disappointing.
·
There is now a draft Section 106 Agreement Code of Practice
and this will be applied as and when we enter pre-submission negotiations in
respect of future major applications where there is a likelihood of planning
permission being granted.
·
The Head of Planning Services has indicated that he wishes
to review the delegation system once he has arrived; we are already achieving
our 02/03 targets, but will have to “tinker” with the delegation arrangements
to achieve the government’s target of 90%.
· In similar terms we will also be reviewing the criteria to be applied when Members wish to defer applications for further negotiations or for a site visit or any other reason.
There are no national indicators for the Building Control; Countryside; AONB or Archaeology service areas.
None as
a direct result of this report.
That the Committee : 1.
Consider and comment
upon the Service Plan 2.
Consider and comment
upon the Performance Indicators for the service and identifies priority
areas for improvement
RECOMMENDATIONS
Best
Value Performance Plan, 2001/02
Planning
and Building Control Service Plan July 2002.
M J FISHER
Strategic Director of Corporate and Environment Services
ANNEX
1 : SERVICE PLAN
|
Performance
Indicator and Source |
Performance |
Benchmarking |
|||
|
Actual
01/02 |
Estimate
02/03 |
Target
& Date |
Comparative
Performance |
Source of
Comparison |
|
|
BV106 – BVPP Percentage of new homes built on previously
developed land |
84% |
60% |
56% by 04/05 |
45% 00/01 |
NUB Group |
|
BV107 – BVPP Planning cost per head of population |
£14.69 |
£14.10 |
£14.56 by 03/04 |
£13.16 00/01 |
NUB Group |
|
BV108 – BVPP The number of advertised departures from the
statutory plan approved by the authority as a percentage of the total |
0.3% |
Deleted from 02/03 |
|
0.61 00/01 |
NUB Group |
|
BV109 – BVPP (changes in 02/03) Percentage of applications
determined within 8 weeks. |
60.6% |
a = 30%, b = 78%, c = 63% |
By 2003/04: a = 50%, b = 65%, c = 80% |
60% 00/01 |
NUB Group |
|
BV110 – BVPP Average time taken to determine all
applications (weeks). |
17.7 |
Deleted from 02/03 |
|
10.64 |
NUB Group |
|
BV111 – BVPP user satisfaction survey |
Not available |
75% |
Yet to be decided |
76% 00/01 |
NUB Group |
|
BV112 – BVPP Score against checklist of planning best
practice |
90 |
deleted from 02/03 |
|
59 00/01 |
NUB Group |
|
LBV P1 – local service target. The number of householder applications decided in under 8
weeks. |
577 |
1154 |
1254 by 04/05 |
|
|
|
LBV PP5 – local service target. Average density of housing developments on large housing
schemes (over 10 units) |
32 dph |
30 dph |
34 dph by 04/05 |
|
|
|
LBV PP6 – local service target. Percentage of social housing negotiated on housing sites above
the qualifying threshold set. |
18% |
Becomes housing BVPI from 02/03 |
UDP policy leads target |
|
|
|
LBV BC2 – local service target. Applicant notified of defects/amendments required within 3
weeks. |
59% |
65% |
75% by 04/05 |
|
|
|
LBV BC3 – local service target. Decision notified within statutory time limits. |
87% |
92% |
96% |
|
|
Statement of performance:
Non-numeric performance standards, significant achievements or areas for
improvement.
During the last 12 months |
|
Achievements: Development Control: ·
Re-structuring and development of Support Team..
Identifying and appropriate action taken in inefficient and ineffective
areas. ·
Successful introduction of Code of Practice for Members
and Officers dealing with Planning Matters. ·
Successful introduction of Charter of Development Control. ·
Maintaining current staffing levels to deal with increased
workload. ·
Administration and monitoring of substantial increased
expenditure in the field of regeneration work. ·
Significant improvements in terms of customer care and
need to adopt proactive approach to development control process. ·
No adverse Ombudsman findings. ·
Process and determination in the region of 2.300 planning
applications. ·
Successful introduction of new delegation arrangements for
handling planning applications and other related submissions. ·
Investigation of more than 550 enforcement related
complaints and monitoring of some 700 commencements. Planning policy: ·
Adoption of UDP. ·
Setting up of funding of various posts using SRB funding. ·
Completion of Urban Capacity Study. ·
Establishment of effective and regular liaison meetings
with DC officers (DC/DP liaison group), the IW Partnership (KIT meetings) and
Council project Officers (Project Liaison Group), housing officers (Housing
Issues Group), Environment Agency Liaison. ·
Creation of Social Audit Database and transfer to IW
Council website. ·
Preparation of numerous development briefs to guide
development. ·
Providing support for various corporate issues. ·
Meeting agreed targets and deadlines. AONB: ·
AONB Partnership. ·
Recruitment of AONB Officer ·
Successful completion of Governance Review and resulting
increase in external funding. Building Control: ·
Improvements in service dealing with land searches and
related enquiries. |
Over last 1 to 3 years |
|
Achievements: Development Control: ·
Restructuring of original Development Control Section. ·
Identification and appropriate action taken in inefficient
and ineffective areas. ·
Significant improvements in terms of customer care and the
need to develop a proactive approach towards the processing./determination of
planning applications. Planning Policy: ·
Ongoing work to achieve adoption of UDP including
extensive consultation. ·
Office improvements and IT upgrades. ·
Establishment of improved land availability system. Countryside: ·
Continued range of effective, high profile work in the
countryside despite budget and staff difficulties. ·
Establishment of a range of partnership projects to help
improve the Island’s countryside and environment e.g. AONB Project, Estuaries
Project, Urban rangers, BAP Project. ·
Development of Management Plans for Countryside sites. ·
Successful establishment of Island 2000 Trust. ·
Relocation
successfully implemented. Archaeology: ·
Continuation of the service, despite severe staffing
problems caused by early retirement of key staff. ·
Continued excellent relationship with private metal
detectorists, organisations and societies. ·
Effective maintenance of the Sites and Monuments Record
and provision of an excellent field service. Support Services: ·
Ongoing IT, secretarial and administrative support. ·
Improvement and installation of various IT systems. ·
Support for the introduction of Best Value. Building Control: ·
Introduction of Building control software package. ·
Staff more empowered and regular team meetings. Areas for Improvement: Development Control: ·
To maintain the current level of delegation on planning
applications and relating submissions at 80% plus. ·
To improve the current “eight week” figure to in excess of
65% with a longer-term aim of 80% plus. ·
Dealing with incoming correspondence in accordance with
Corporate/Directorate objectives. ·
Improving the reception/advice service for development
control service. ·
Developing a more effective and efficient call handling
system. ·
Embark and work towards an initial round of Personal
Development Plans/Learning Passports for staff employed within the Section to
work towards IIP. ·
To provide the foundations in terms of information
required for the Best Value Review, which is due to take place in Year 5. Planning Policy: ·
Some outstanding projects need completion. Not finished due to staff shortages, which
will hopefully soon be rectified. ·
Development of wider policy advice a priority now under
UDP. Printed and web based
information. Countryside: ·
Links with new Council structure need improving. Archaeology: ·
Improvement of the Clatterford Road site is essential. Support Services: ·
Support staff are needed to effectively develop the
service. Building Control: ·
Raising profile of service in order to secure work. ·
Customer feedback required. |
|
Service aim/Objective |
Tasks |
Targets
& Dates |
Responsible
Officer |
Directorate
Objective to which this task contributes |
|
To progress towards the electronic delivery of the
Planning Service |
1. To
progress the proposals for the document imaging project by setting up a
project team. Draw up a project plan. 2. To review
the planning and Building Control application
system and its application to the web. 3. To
consider specific hardware and software requirements. 4. To
consider the funding requirements for e-government delivery. 5. Achieve
full electronic delivery of the Planning Service. |
May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 July 2002 2005 |
PA CH/ST/JL DH DH PA |
1 |
|
To ensure the funding and staffing requirements of the
planning and building control services in response to Best Value and the
Planning Green Paper are met. |
1. Assess
staffing and funding requirements of the department
over the next five years. 2. Complete
the re-structuring of the department, including identified needs for
additional DC and Building Control staff and trees
officer. 3. Appointment
of a clerical officer to facilitate and
assist with the introduction of public speaking at Development Control
Committee. 4. Assess the opportunities in which to raise the profile of
Building Control service in order to gain a larger market share of he
Building Control work. |
ASAP ASAP April/June 2002 May 2002 |
PA/CH/JL PA/CH/JL CH/ST JL |
2 |
|
To consider accommodation requirements/opportunities for
the service. |
Review the documentation needs of the service. |
June 2002 |
PA/Ch/JL |
2 |
|
To secure IIP status in the service |
To improve staff involvement to IIP standards. |
Dec 2002 |
PA |
2 |
|
To improve standards of customer care and continue to
improve our performance against pre-defined indicators. |
1. Undertake
customer survey. 2. Prioritise
areas of improvement. 3. Tackle
telephone/caller responses. 4. Improve
reception service and facilities. 5. Improve
information available to the general public. 6. To work
towards achieving a one-stop shop for development applications. 7. Ensure
staff receives adequate training in order to fulfil
their duties. |
May/June 2002 July 2002 May 2002 May 2002 |
PA/CH PA/CH PA/CH/ST PA/CH/ST |
1, 2 |
ANNEX
2: PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
BV 106 Percentage of
new homes built on previously developed land.
BV 108 The number of
advertised departures from the statutory plan approved by the authority as a
percentage of total permissions granted.
BV 112 Score against
a checklist of planning best practice.
BV 110 Average time
taken to determine all planning applications (weeks).
BV 107 Planning cost
per head of population.
BV 109 Percentage of
planning applications determined within 8 weeks.
None
None