Category: Opinions | October 18, 2023
Is the government taking the challenges that local planning authorities face seriously? The simple answer is “no”.
I had high hopes this February when the government launched its technical consultation: ‘Stronger performance of local planning authorities supported through an increase in planning fees.’ After all, in paragraph two, it stated: “All users of the planning system… should experience a quality and timely planning service. It is therefore essential that planning authorities have the resources they need to deliver a service that people expect as well as meeting our ambitions for planning reform.”
However, its 25 July response to the technical consultation dashed those hopes. Having sought views on improving performance of local planning authorities by increasing planning fees, building capacity and capability, and introducing a more robust performance regime, the government dismissed the need for action.
The government said that while it recognised there were downsides to the current system of not ringfencing planning budgets, it was this very lack of ringfencing that limited the benefit of increasing planning fees. It went on to argue: “To ensure that the proposed additional fee income directly supports increased resourcing of local authority planning departments, it is sometimes suggested that planning fees should be ringfenced to planning services only. This would enable direct improvements in service delivery but does undermine the general flexibility afforded to local authorities on their wider financial management.”
Of the 495 who responded to the consultation, 457 specifically addressed to this question of whether the additional income arising from the proposed fee increase (35% for major applications, 25% for all other applications) should be ringfenced for spending within the local authority planning department. A massive 88% of those agreed with the proposal.
Yet the government said it would “not take ringfencing forward through legislation as this would impose a restriction on local authorities when they are best placed to make decisions about funding local services, including planning departments.”
Instead, the government intends to leave the decision to each individual local authority. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that a local authority that is trying to fund other statutory services will ringfence these monies to the planning department. This means that the increased planning fees, which were accepted and were introduced as draft regulations to parliament in July 2023, are not likely to lead to a “quality and timely planning service” at all.
To rub more salt into the wound, the government asked several questions about the proposed metrics against which local planning authority performance can be measured.
Rather than respond to the feedback, the government thanked respondents and stated: “It is our intention to introduce a new planning performance framework once we have increased planning fees and invested in supporting the capacity and capability of planning departments.
“However, we recognise that local planning authorities need a period of adjustment to any new planning performance framework, and we would reiterate our commitment to consult further on detailed proposals, including thresholds, assessment periods and transitional arrangements from the current performance regime.”
The response beggars belief. Why can’t better performance metrics be provided and implemented now when we have planning departments at risk of special measures? Developers and planning consultants are constantly asking me why their local planning authority is taking so long to respond to their planning applications.
Local planning authority performance is an important area to manage and monitor, and action needs to be taken now. Clearly, an increase in fee income will help in recruiting and retaining planning officers. However, it will only help if the money is ringfenced for planning.
The government must reconsider ringfencing as it offers the only guarantee that the monies collected through the increase in planning fees will go directly to a local planning authority. Planning drives everything else in a local area. It is an enabler for investment and growth. If it can be funded correctly, then everything else will flow.
For a decade, the planning system has been under-invested and under-resourced, leading to costly and unnecessary delays in the planning process. It’s time the government stopped kicking the can down the road and took meaningful action now.
