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Update

Date

Completed?

Note

1^st

11 Dec 2009

6 months after publication

2^nd

11 June 2010

12 months after publication

3^rd

11 Dec 2010

Recommendation[1]

Cabinet

Member[2]

Response[3]

Timetable[4]

Lead Officer[5]

A.     Planning Enforcement Training be improved to include the following:

             i.        The extent of planning enforcement powers be clearly explained in the planning service information packs, as well as on the Council’s website;

            ii.        Ward and Parish Councillors be consulted on the draft content of the planning service information packs;

           iii.        Ensure the call-centre staff are sufficiently trained and informed with regard to planning enforcement to ensure the public receive correct information when potential planning breaches are reported ;

          iv.        A rolling programme of training be delivered to ensure that new staff joining the Council receive training from legal services with regard to enforcement and that all relevant officers, Councillors, Parish Councillors and Clerks are kept up to date with enforcement procedures and case law;

            v.        Councillors and their respective Parish Councils be encouraged to undertake training together to undertake pre-application discussions with a potential applicant and Council Officer; and

          vi.        The existing protocol for using pre-application discussions be formally recognised as the preferred approach to deal with larger applications and that this preference be reflected and encouraged in Council planning literature.

Regeneration

i.    With Development Control and Enforcement being brought together joint information is key to ensuring that the services work effectively with each other.  An element of this is the production of enforcement web-pages alongside the development control pages.  These will provide quick and easy access to information regarding the enforcement process and to provide as much information as is allowed without breaching confidentiality.

ii.   Ward and Parish Councillors will be consulted on the content of the Planning Service Information Packs.

iii.  An audit on enforcement has recently been carried out with the report due to be published before the end of June 2009.  The report will cover a number of facets of the enforcement service including contact with complainants.  We are also reviewing this internally with a view to shifting the initial contact away from the contact centre back to planning officers.  The benefits of this are two fold:  reduction in double-handling of complainants and a planning professional being available at initial contact improving the service quality.

iv.  All new staff, for Development Control and Enforcement, will receive appropriate training on Enforcement.  Any important updates to enforcement procedures and case law can be linked to via the enforcement webpages, once created.

In addition, periodic updates of significant appeal decisions will be included in the Planning Committee papers.

v.   And vi. Pre-application discussions are a key element in the delivery of suitable schemes across the Borough.  To this end a KPI has been put in place for Development Control on the % of major schemes having pre-application discussions.  In addition the Planning department has recently invested in additional pre-application software to allow better control and quality of pre-application advice, as well as making it more available via the website.  Therefore training will be provided where required and pre-applications will continue to be an important element of future planning literature.

End of October 2009

End of October 2009

TBC in Audit response action plan

Immediate and Ongoing

Immediate and Ongoing

ROC

RJ

RJ

RJ

RJ

B.     Planning Conditions and Section 106 Agreement Monitoring be improved to include the following:

             i.        An officer be assigned to monitor and pursue the progress of all cases awaiting further enforcement action to prevent unnecessary delays;

            ii.        The Section 106 Agreement’s audit trail include a statement on the direct benefits to the Community of a Section 106 Agreement;

           iii.        The role of Parish Councils in giving the Council notice of suspected breaches of planning control as early as possible be formalised; and

          iv.        The Council pursue a proactive approach to monitoring planning conditions and Section 106 Agreements and that the time until the condition expires be used in prioritising what is monitored to ensure the opportunity to take action is not lost.

Regeneration

i.    and iii.  The audit report due to be published in June 2009 will consider and make recommendations on the controls of such areas such as the monitoring of case progress and reporting of breaches.  The response to the audit report and action plan will be sent to Overview and Scrutiny for information on the planned actions in these areas.

ii.   The information for s106 agreements will include the areas on where the money was spent once received.  This information can also be included on the website updates on s106 information.

iii.  See i.

iv.  The necessary resources to carry out the conditions compliance function are not available.  However, we will continue to prioritise compliance with conditions on major schemes.  The post of s106 compliance officer was made permanent in the recent restructure which will allow proactive monitoring of s106 agreements.

TBC in Audit response action plan

Immediate and Ongoing

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Immediate and Ongoing

RJ

ROC

ROC

C.    Communication be improved to include the following:

             i.        Quarterly updates be distributed to Ward and Parish Councillors from Planning Enforcement and Section 106 Officers on information regarding new Section 106s, information with regard to early stages of enforcement action and any changes to conditions.   Reported omissions and amendments from the quarterly updates be investigated and included in future updates as necessary;

            ii.        Enforcement case information be detailed on the intranet in order that Members and officers may access this to receive and provide updates on activities;

           iii.        Following the success of implementation of the Committee’s recommendation regarding Parish Council adoption of standing orders in order that confidential enforcement information can be circulated to the relevant Parish Councils, the remaining Parish Councils be encouraged and briefed on how to adopt standing orders at their meetings;

          iv.        A dedicated planning enforcement liaison officer be appointed and used as a single point of contact for Ward and Parish Councillors to ensure consistency in information received;

            v.        Publicise successful finalised enforcement action, including using the Borough Update;

          vi.        Relationship with developers be enhanced by expanding training opportunities for them and exploring possible best practice awards in Maidstone;

         vii.        Parish Councils be consulted when considering the removal of conditions that had been initially requested by Parish Councils;

        viii.        Join an organisation such as NAPE or SEOG to share best practice and receive the benefits of their training; and

          ix.        Ensure that the complainants of breaches of conditions or of non compliance of Section 106 Agreements are regularly updated, with explanation for any delays, to improve customer service and avoid unnecessary phone calls.

Regeneration

i.    S106 updates have recently been improved by providing the information on our website.  This information is updated when relevant changes occur.  The quality of quarterly enforcement updates to parishes and Councillors is undergoing changes following bringing the Enforcement IT system in line with Development Control.  This allows easier tracking of all stages of a case through the enforcement process and enables the production of better quality information that is less resource intensive to produce.  A letter has been written to parishes informing them of the changes and asking them for feedback on future information.

ii.   As there is no direct link between Apas (the planning IT system) and the intranet, the publishing of such information would be resource intensive and could lead to confusion and misinformation as the intranet would inevitably lag behind the dynamic database.  There is a link between Apas and the internet, via the actions element of the database which is located on a web-server in order to enable mobile working.  However, this element of the system is not active but the use of this functionality will be explored next year once the new IT system for Enforcement has bedded in.

iii.  A list of those parishes that had not signed up to receive part II information has been sent to the Chairman of the KALC in order for the necessary amendments for standing orders to be sent to them.  The KALC can help any of the parish councils to sign up for part II information and this will be publicised to the parish councils with the next quarterly update (scheduled for start June 2009)

iv.  The audit report due to be published in June 2009 will consider and make recommendations on communications and reporting.  The response and action plan will be circulated to the Scrutiny Committee once it is produced.

v.   Where it is appropriate to do so we will use this approach.  In addition we will produce quarterly enforcement updates for planning committee.

vi.  The Developers’ Forum is a recent initiative that has been successful at bringing Developers, Members and Planning Officers together.  The issue of best practice awards and training requirements will be raised at the next forum to find if there is an appetite from developers for those opportunities.

vii. Section 73 applications are required for the removal of conditions.  Parish Councils are consulted on these applications.

viii. We will investigate membership of NAPE and SEOG for our enforcement officers.

ix.  The audit report due to be published in June 2009 will consider and make recommendations on communications and reporting.  The response and action plan will be circulated to the Scrutiny Committee once it is produced.

Immediate and Ongoing

Review Jan ‘10

July 09

TBC in Audit response action plan

Immediate and Ongoing

7 October 2009

Ongoing

Immediate and Ongoing

TBC in Audit response action plan

ROC

ROC

ROC

RJ

RJ

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D.    The legal framework under which bonds can be used to procure compliance with planning obligations set out within a Section 106 Agreement with a land owner be explored to ensure S106 compliance;

Regeneration

The potential for using bonds will be investigated.

Oct’09

ROC

E.     A list of developers who have failed to comply with Section 106s or planning conditions be compiled to inform future monitoring requirements of Section 106s and planning conditions and serve as a possible justification of bond requirement;

Regeneration

The potential for doing this will be investigated with legal services.

Oct ‘09

ROC

F.     The Council undertake registration of a notice of non-compliance on the local land charges register as a form of enforcement action to ensure Section 106 compliance;

Regeneration

This process is already in place and consists of two stages:

1. A letter of non-compliance is sent to the developer, including a date to comply by.  If compliance is not met then stage 2 is carried out.
2. The letter of non-compliance is placed on the land charges register.

Ongoing

G.    Parish Councils elsewhere in the County be recommended to use Standing Orders as a possible solution to receiving appropriate confidential information;

Regeneration

The KALC can provide advice to Parish Councils on these issues. 

N/A

H.    The revisions to the prioritisation matrix include evolved policy such as landscaping and that all Councillors and Parish Councils be consulted on the revisions to the matrix to ensure support and that the prioritisation matrix be reviewed periodically to ensure its continued effectiveness; and

Regeneration

Landscaping is already considered in Matrix prioritisation under environmental considerations. 

The matrix will be reviewed annually and any changes to the matrix system agreed by Members will be consulted upon.

Annual

RJ

I.      Informatives be used to encourage developers to inform the Council of commencement dates and changes of developer.

Regeneration

Informatives to this effect can be added to permissions for major developments.

Immediate and Ongoing

RJ