Agenda item

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Cabinet agreed

(a)             to publish the South Cambridgeshire Authority Monitoring Report 2017-2018 (included as Appendix 1), with any further minor editing changes delegated to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development where they relate to technical matters;

(b)             that, in future, a Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Report is produced, and that these future Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Reports will be agreed for publication by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council), unless the Authority Monitoring Report identifies any significant issue with the implementation of any Local Plan or Area Action Plan policy that requires more detailed consideration by Cabinet;

(c)             that a decision on whether to submit a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement (relating to five year housing land supply) to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for consideration will be made by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council) and that the decision will be made before 1 April each year as required by national planning guidance;

(d)             that, whether or not it is decided to prepare a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement, the housing trajectory and five year supply calculations will be agreed by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council);

(e)             to seek agreement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge should be considered together for the purposes of the Housing Delivery Test; and

(f)               that, if on publication of the annual Housing Delivery Test results, an Action Plan is necessary in this or future years, it will be agreed by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting.

Cabinet considered a report setting out the current processes for monitoring the Local Plan and housing delivery, and proposing a new approach to the decision-making processes for the preparation, consultation, publication and submission of monitoring documents, such as the Authority Monitoring Report and housing trajectory.

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins invited Cabinet to bear in mind her concern about the length of time between issues arising and being reported. The ideal “time lag” would be one to three months, rather than 12 months.

The Planning Policy Manager summarised the new method of calculating five-year housing land supply and, in response to a query from Councillor Neil Gough, said the aim was to achieve more meaningful data as soon as possible by achieving increased joined-up working across the Council.

Councillor Philippa Hart observed that the Council would be judged on its deliverability of new housing, so better monitoring was essential. She reminded officers that local Members were ideally placed to provide up-to-date information in that regard.

Councillor Peter Topping referred to paragraph 3(e) of the report from the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development, which indicated that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) might agree that South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council should be considered together for the purposes of the Housing Delivery Test. The Planning Policy Manager commented that data would nevertheless still be acquired on a site-by-site basis.

Cabinet agreed

(a)             to publish the South Cambridgeshire Authority Monitoring Report 2017-2018 (included as Appendix 1), with any further minor editing changes delegated to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development where they relate to technical matters;

(b)             that, in future, a Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Report is produced, and that these future Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Reports will be agreed for publication by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council), unless the Authority Monitoring Report identifies any significant issue with the implementation of any Local Plan or Area Action Plan policy that requires more detailed consideration by Cabinet;

(c)             that a decision on whether to submit a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement (relating to five year housing land supply) to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for consideration will be made by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council) and that the decision will be made before 1 April each year as required by national planning guidance;

(d)             that, whether or not it is decided to prepare a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement, the housing trajectory and five year supply calculations will be agreed by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council);

(e)             to seek agreement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge should be considered together for the purposes of the Housing Delivery Test; and

(f)               that, if on publication of the annual Housing Delivery Test results, an Action Plan is necessary in this or future years, it will be agreed by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting.