Issue - meetings

Planning enforcement

Meeting: 26/11/2019 - Scrutiny Committee (Item 26)

26 Review of planning enforcement performance 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2019 pdf icon PDF 199 KB

To consider the head of planning’s report attached. 

Minutes:

The committee considered the head of planning’s report, which reviewed performance of the planning enforcement service from 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2019. 

 

Councillor Leigh Rawlins, Cabinet member for planning, attended the meeting and asked the committee for its comments on the report and for any suggestions on how the team should prioritise its work in the future. 

 

The report set out the role of the enforcement service, the legal requirements, and the relevant local plan policies.  The report also set out the limitations of the service.  The focus was on remedying planning harm but not to ‘police’ the district or punish those that had followed the rules.  Other than unauthorised works to listed buildings, protected trees and the unauthorised display of advertisements, breaches of planning control were not criminal acts.  The service provided by the council was set out in the planning enforcement statement, which was published on the council’s website.  This explained how the council monitored implementation of planning conditions and how the council investigated unauthorised development.  The statement was being reviewed to update it in line with the latest guidance. 

 

The report also set out the enforcement workload, analysed the unresolved cases, and showed performance against the council’s targets.  The committee noted that the service had just missed the target to investigate and determine the cause of 80 per cent of cases within six weeks of the original enquiry.  However, the increase in voluntary compliance was three times the target as more people were engaging with the planning system.  The enforcement team had taken formal action where necessary and had defended successfully all four of its decisions at appeal. 

 

The team aimed to get the public to engage rather than to impose immediate penalties.  On larger sites, officers would attempt to be proactive by monitoring development as it happened to pick up issues in a timely manner.  The enforcement team had taken formal action where necessary and had defended successfully its decisions at appeal.  Officers gave examples of their more complex cases. 

 

The committee noted that ability to improve performance was restricted by resourcing difficulties including the recruitment and retention of staff.  However, performance compared favourably against benchmark councils.  Although the South and Vale team was larger than average when fully staffed, it had a larger number of planning applications to monitor and more strategic housing sites than other benchmark authorities. 

 

The committee welcomed the performance of the team noting the resourcing issues. Committee members requested further information in respect of the type of enforcement cases submitted to the team and the financial implications of cases.  Consideration should be given to the recruitment of a specialist data analysis resource to provide information on planning enforcement cases for the team.

 

The committee requested a roundtable briefing session for councillors on the enforcement statement and that the enforcement statement comes to the committee prior to consideration by Cabinet. 

 

In response to a question, officers responded that the team does not ordinarily investigate anonymous complaints because they need a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26


 

Contact us - Democratic services

Phone icon

01235 422520
(Text phone users add 18001 before dialing)

Address icon

South Oxfordshire District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon
OX14 3JE