3.
The Government is seeking to improve Planning Services
through the new Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill (currently scheduled for
Spring 2004), which will see the replacement of the Unitary Development Plan
(UDP) by a new Local Development Framework (LDF). The development of the LDF will connect up with the Community
Strategy (Island Futures) and help deliver the policies it contains.
Planning
Services will therefore become a more pro-active service and provide
sustainable development, whilst protecting the local environment. This will support the IW Council’s six main
corporate objectives. It will also be
able to support national and regional government objectives.
The
Improvement Plan has been designed around existing best practice. Its five key themes are based on the Audit
Commission’s report on Planning Services: -
·
Focussing on what matters to local people
·
Assuring the quality of development
·
Enhancing customer care
·
Reducing the delay in Development Control
·
Reinforcing management systems to assure quality
These
key themes have given the Improvement Plan a robust structure and has
encouraged the component teams in the service to work together on these more
general objectives rather than prepare their own component improvement plan.
The aim
is to make Planning Services an excellent service and one of the leading 25% of
all local planning authorities by 2007.
The
improvements contained within the report support these changes over the next
four years, through the departments service planning.
CONSULTATION
4.
Key
external and internal stakeholders have given their views on the Planning
Services and have suggested improvements.
Those involved have included:-
Officers of Planning
Services, and the Project Team
Members of Economic Development, Planning, Tourism
& Leisure Select Committee
Development Control Committee and the Member
Appraisal Group.
Major organisations such
as English Heritage, Environment Agency
IWC Departments who work
with Planning Services
Occasional Users of the
Service – surveyed at Seaclose.
MORI – Citizens Panel –
postal survey of awareness & effectiveness
Best Value Inspectorate
– external challenge visit.
The New Unitaries Benchmarking Group – performance
& good practice comparisons.
GOSE – external
challenge visit
East Riding of Yorkshire
Council – external challenge visit
Agents & Architects
Focus Group – planned meetings.
These
have all informed the review and the findings of the report. In
particular, the visits from a Best Value Inspector (June 2003) and the Head of
Planning Services from East Riding of Yorkshire Council (September 2003) have
given an early steer and an external reality check respectively.
FINANCIAL/BUDGET
IMPLICATIONS
5. The financial implication are outlined
in the report and detailed in the Service Plan for 2004/05.
LEGAL
IMPLICATIONS
6. Best
Value Reviews are a statutory obligation under the Local Government Act 1999
and subsequent circulars. The local
methodology delivers the required standard of review.
7. The
Planning Service combines a number of statutory functions, some of which are
subject to review by the Planning Inspectorate, and each of which has a role to
play in the delivery of corporate objectives.
Where there is a legal context to the review and its recommendations,
these are considered in the report.
OPTIONS
1. To endorse the Best Value Review and to approve
the implementation of the improvement plan.
2. To
request more work to be carried out.
EVALUATION/RISK
MANAGEMENT
8. Improvements to Planning Services will
be a part of the implementation of the IW Council’s Community Strategy, and
will make the service more customers orientated. It will also help to plan the future land use of the Island in a
sustainable manner, and to protect the environment.
9.
Improved performance is crucial to the achievement of
additional funding of the service through Supplementary Planning Grant. The Report shows how we plan to improve
performance in line with government targets and how we will produce a Local
Development Framework by 2007.
10.
The main risk to this plan is therefore lack of
performance by Planning Services. Recent performance has shown that they can
meet and exceed the key performance targets.
That risk can be further minimised by the support of IW Council for
these planned improvements. Detailed
risk assessments have already been provided to the County Treasurer and the
Insurance & Risk Manager.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
11.
To approve option 1.
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BACKGROUND
PAPERS
12.
The detailed improvement plan (Part 3 of the Report),
the main report and the appendices to the report.
Contact
Point :David Hughes 824553 [email protected]
|
A
ASHCROFT
Head
of Planning Services
|
T
BUTCHERS
Portfolio
Holder for Sustainable Development, Environment, and Planning Policy
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