Decision details

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report, which sought approval of an updated planning enforcement statement. 

During the past year, officers had conducted a review of the planning enforcement service and had revised the planning enforcement statement, which had been subject to councillor consultation.  The statement included sustainable improvements to service provision, resulting in a more efficient use of resources.  All cases referred to the council would undergo a triage assessment to decide what action was necessary. 

Cabinet noted that this council was one of the top performers in planning enforcement but there was always room for improvement.  However, the Cabinet member considered that the public should be reminded of the limits placed on the council.  Planning enforcement was not a policing function to punish individuals, the aim was to find remedies to unacceptable planning harm.  The planning enforcement statement set this out clearly, stating what the council could and could not do. 

Information on cases could be shared with councillors but there was a need to protect individuals’ right to privacy, so personal information could not be shared.  Training would be provided for councillors. 

All parish councils would be provided with a copy of the statement.  The council’s website would also be improved to make it clear what the service could provide, where to find information, and how to contact the council about a potential enforcement case. 

Cabinet welcomed the statement as a proper and considered approach to planning enforcement.  Councillors were proud of the council’s performance to date; the review and the statement would bring further improvements.  The triaging system would help prioritise caseload.  This would also help the council reduce the backlog of cases.  Officers were thanked for their work in reviewing the service and preparing a revised statement. 

Cabinet noted that there would be an ongoing monitoring of effectiveness of the statement, internal processes, and published information, with a review after 12 months.  Elements would also be monitored through the corporate plan’s performance monitoring reports, considered by the Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet.  Councillors could feed in any suggestions for further improvements. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)       note the feedback from Scrutiny Committee;

(b)       approve the new enforcement statement and approach to managing planning enforcement; and

(c)        authorise the head of planning, in consultation with the South Oxfordshire District Council Cabinet member for planning, the Vale of White Horse District Council Cabinet member for community engagement, and the deputy chief executive – transformation and operations, to make any minor changes, formatting, typographical corrections or non-material amendments to the joint planning enforcement statement.