Meeting documents

Cabinet considered the report which requested that funding be allocated towards the cost of additional resources for the Planning and Sustainability Service to address significant increases in workloads.

Members read the comprehensive report in respect of the current pressures on the Planning and Sustainability Service. It was noted that Planning and Sustainability faced rising workloads, both in terms of normal business and larger projects (such as the Reserve Sites and numerous appeals).

Cabinet approval was sought to allocate funds to finance the submission of the new Local Plan, as well as implementing a programme of change and process improvements, to ensure the Planning service remained as efficient as possible.

The following decisions were made as the Planning and Sustainability Service played a key role in facilitating the sustainable growth of the District’s economy and providing a land use framework for new housing and employment sites while protecting the Green Belt and ensuring sensitive development in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Service had been under considerable strain. The new funding sought aimed both to achieve a measure of respite from recent pressures and the necessary capacity to modernise the service and its management and administrative processes to deliver cost efficiency improvements and a better service for customers; deliver the local plan; and prepare the major strategic housing site at Princes Risborough.    

RESOLVED: That (i) the Council’s Planning and Sustainability Service had been experiencing rising pressures due to an increased volume of applications; the need for detailed preparatory work on the local plan; and the need to defend a number of planning appeals. The service had coped largely through the professionalism and good will of its staff. However, it was now under significant strain and required a short term injection of funding to cope with these pressures; take the local plan through the examination process next year; and modernise the service to make it more cost efficient and customer focussed;         

(ii)       The Government had allocated a total of £366k to the Council to build the necessary capacity to deliver the local plan in relation to Princes Risborough and to promote more self-build housing, and a further grant (the amount to be specified) would be provided in relation to the brownfield register. The Service had also already been allocated match funding of £66k in relation to the government grant for capacity work at Princes Risborough and had also accumulated reserves totalling £95k from 2016/17, and income from providing an enhanced service on the major projects programme of £50k a year;

(iii)      In addition to these funds Council was asked to approve the one-off allocation of £155k to finance the submission of the new Local Plan in this financial year;

(iv)      The funding requested would enable the Service to:

a)        Recruit additional short term staff to ensure that the Department continues to provide a satisfactory service over the next 2 years;

b)        Finance a business transformation and cultural change programme with the aim of modernising the service and delivering significant cost efficiency gains and additional income with the aim of reducing the level of taxpayer subsidy to the service to the minimum achievable without compromising quality standards;

c)         Progress a detailed, fully evidenced local plan through the process of examination next year; and

d)        Progress work on a detailed delivery plan for the development of 2,500 new homes at Princes Risborough as proposed in the draft local plan, and maintaining other current strategic priorities.

(v)       the Government’s proposed 20% increase in planning fees had been put on hold pending the outcome of the General Election be noted.