Agenda item

Motion from Councillor Graham Cone

That this Council requests Cabinet to publish a table on its website each month including the following:

·         The number of planning applications received during the previous month.

·         The total number of live applications remaining at the end of the previous month

·         The average validation time that month

·         The average determination time that month

·         The average time for a decision notice that month

·         The date of submission of the oldest live planning application held by the Council.

These figures should set out a breakdown of minor, major applications, pre-applications, decision notices, discharge of conditions, reserved matters.

 

Decision:

The following motion was LOST:

 

That this Council requests Cabinet to publish a table on its website each month including the following:

·         The number of planning applications received during the previous month.

·         The total number of live applications remaining at the end of the previous month

·         The average validation time that month

·         The average determination time that month

·         The average time for a decision notice that month

·         The date of submission of the oldest live planning application held by the Council.

These figures should set out a breakdown of minor, major applications, pre-applications, decision notices, discharge of conditions, reserved matters.

Minutes:

Councillor Graham Cone moved and Councillor Heather Williams seconded, the following motion, as set out in the agenda:-

 

“That this Council requests Cabinet to publish a table on its website each month including the following:

·         The number of planning applications received during the previous month.

·         The total number of live applications remaining at the end of the previous month

·         The average validation time that month

·         The average determination time that month

·         The average time for a decision notice that month

·         The date of submission of the oldest live planning application held by the Council.

 

These figures should set out a breakdown of minor, major applications, pre-applications, decision notices, discharge of conditions, reserved matters.”

 

Councillor Graham Cone explained that, if passed, this motion would benefit residents and parish councils, by ensuring that expectations were more realistic regarding the service that the Council could provide.

 

Councillor Heather Williams explained that this information would help to manage residents’ expectations and alleviate pressure on officers.

 

Councillor Steve Hunt was concerned that providing a small amount of information could be misleading and supported the current Key Performance Indicators, presented to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, as more meaningful measures of performance.

 

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins stated that the Key Performance Indicators were included in a quarterly report and available online on the Gov.UK website. She considered it unnecessary to burden officers by asking them to provide more information.

 

Councillor Sue Ellington said that this data would show how long it took the Council to validate new planning applications and it could help drive improvements.

 

Councillor Peter Topping stated that the information would help the local Members to keep their parish councils informed and questioned why it appeared that some Members did not wish to publish the information.

 

Councillor Brian Milnes reported that the Scrutiny and Overview Committee already interpreted the Key Performance Information relevant to the Planning Department and Councillor Peter McDonald expressed surprise that such questions about the KPIs did not appear to have been raised at the Committee.

 

Councillor Nick Wright expressed his support for this motion. He explained that the current Key Performance Indicators did not provide the same data as requested in the motion.

 

Councillor Dr. Aidan Van de Weyer stated that the Scrutiny and Overview Committee was the best place to discuss the performance of the Planning department and that the necessary performance data was already submitted. He queried whether detailing the average validation time would be informative, as many planning applications had to be re-submitted.

 

Councillor Ruth Betson asked why, if the performance information was already published on the Gov.UK website, it could not simply be replicated on the Council’s website.

 

Councillor Graham Cone stated that the motion would make the Council more transparent.

 

Upon the motion being put, votes were cast as follows:

 

In favour (11):

Councillors Ruth Betson, Dr. Shrobona Bhattacharya, Tom Bygott, Graham Cone, Dr. Douglas de Lacey, Sue Ellington, Deborah Roberts, Peter Topping, Bunty Waters, Heather Williams and Nick Wright.

 

Against (25)

Councillors Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Anna Bradnam, Dr. Martin Cahn, Gavin Clayton, Dr. Claire Daunton, Clare Delderfield, Peter Fane, Neil Gough, Jose Hales, Bill Handley, Philippa Hart, Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Pippa Heylings, Steve Hunt, Peter McDonald, Brian Milnes, Dawn Percival, Judith Rippeth,  Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Dr. Ian Sollom, Dr. Aidan Van de Weyer, John Williams and Eileen Wilson.

 

Abstain (0)

 

The Chairman declared the motion to be LOST.