Decision details

To present an update on the Council’s planning application performance and to seek the Executive’s approval on an Action Plan which will sustain the Council’s present high level of performance on Quality of planning decision making.

The planning performance of all Councils in England is assessed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).  The focus of the performance monitoring is on speed of decision making and the quality of decision making (the latter being linked to the number of appeals allowed against the Council’s decisions).  The briefing paper attached to this report provides an update on this Council’s latest performance in respect of speed and quality of decision making.

In December 2023, the Council’s planning service was designated by DLUHC due to the number of appeals allowed against the decisions of this Council on major planning applications.  The majority of these allowed appeals related to applications decided between April 2020 and March 2021.  The number of major planning applications allowed on appeal since March 2021 has significantly reduced.

The Council is required to prepare and agree an Action Plan with DLUHC which addresses the reasons that led to the number of major applications being allowed at appeal.  The Executive is invited to agree a Planning Designation Action Plan.

RESOLVED that the Executive:

(a)  notes the progress made in respect of the quality of decision-making on planning applications;

(b)  approves the Action Plan, having regard for any comments received from Members of the Planning Committee following their consideration of the draft Action Plan on the 13 March;

(c)  requests that Officers submit the Action Plan to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for approval; and

(d)  delegates authority to the Director of Planning and Regeneration, following consultation with the Executive Member for Planning and Development and the Chairman of the Planning Committee, to make amendments to the Action Plan in response to any comments made by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the Action Plan.