Agenda item

To provide the Committee with an update on the progress made against the management actions to address the recommendations.

The Development Team Manager introduced the report and explained that it was an update following the audit report brought to committee in November 2021. The outcome of that report produced 5 high priority recommendations and 8 medium priority recommendations. Page 91 of the reports pack showed an overview of the progress and a brief summary on each recommendation. He drew the Committees attention to the challenges and successes of the project so far which included:

Successes

·         A new Development Management Advisory Panel (D-MAP) had been established.

·         A new draft revised planning enforcement policy and procedures.

·         Ongoing IT system improvements

·         Enforcement Team were now all affiliate members of the Royal Town and Planning Institute.

·         A new training and development programme in review.

Challenges

·         Difficult to recruit experienced members of staff.

·         High turnover of staff and heavily reliant on agency staff.

·         Staffing issues led to delay with the IT roll out.

The Development Team Manager further informed the committee of the upcoming work which included:

·         Continued IT system improvements.

·         Begin public consultation on the enforcement policy.

·         Supporting staff with their development.

·         Look into the resourcing of the department and complete a resource assessment.

In response to Councillor Pearson, the Head of Development Management explained that there was a national shortage of Planners and Enforcement Officers. She further explained that they required an experienced member of staff in order to train up the junior staff. They needed to complete a resource assessment to see what changes could be made to aid recruitment however, they had completed the review on the current advert for a senior Enforcement Officer which so far had still not generated any interest.

The Development Team Manager confirmed that as part of the Fit For the Future programme, they would be looking into corporate changes to pay in order to increase attractiveness as an employer.

In response to Councillor Pearcy, the Development Team Manager confirmed that he was the unofficial project manager for this project. He informed the Committee that he had undergone an open university course on project management to develop the required skills.

Councillor Hurst questioned whether the IT system improvements would be able to address most of the issues and how did it differ from the previous one. The Head of Development Management explained that the new IT system would have a case management system which would allow Officers to monitor the progress of an enforcement case which previously could not be done. This would allow for greater communication between the complainant and the planning team and Officers would have a greater knowledge of what stage each case was at.

The following answers were given in response to Councillors questions:

·         The discharge of a planning condition would lie with the Planner however the work around the compliance of a condition would fall to the enforcement team.

·         Any condition imposed on a planning application would need to meet the required tests and would not be added unless it was necessary.

·         The level of communication would be far better with the new system in place especially if they were the complainant.

Councillor Pearson proposed and Councillor Wilsher seconded.

After being put to a vote, the Motion was carried.

RESOLVED   To ACCEPT the progress report.