District council raises planning performance and exits 'special measures'

The first local authority to be put in ‘special measures’ by the Government over its planning performance was released from the regime earlier this month.

Blaby District Council was designated as “poorly performing” by the Department for Communities and Local Government in November 2013.

This was after the local authority only determined 18% of major applications within 13 weeks over a two-year period. The DCLG’s threshold at the time was 30%; it is now 40%.

Designation means that major applications can be submitted direct to the Planning Inspectorate.

The move prompted a furious response from Blaby’s Leader, who said the council had been put in special measures “for not slavishly following Government directed targets”.

Blaby has since worked with the Planning Advisory Service and the Government to improve its performance.

When reassessed in June 2014, it was found to have determined 62% of major applications within the required timeframe.

The council said it was now in the top quartile of local authorities nationally.

Cllr Tony Greenwood, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Economic Development and Housing Strategy at Blaby, said: ”When we were put in special measures we were at pains to stress that we  prefer to work proactively with developers to ensure a high quality development rather than focus purely on an arbitrary Government timescale.

“The council has stuck to its principles and continues to prioritise customer service and good development over speed. It’s now even clearer our approach is right; during the year of designation only one developer from approximately 50 major planning applications has chosen to apply directly to the Inspectorate rather than work with the council.”

He added: “The improvements in planning application performance combined with our up-to-date Core Strategy, an approved urban extension of 4,250 homes and our excellent customer relationships reinforce that Blaby is an excellent planning authority.”

The Planning Advisory Service and Blaby have this week published a case study on how the improvements were achieved.

The document, which can be viewed here, reveals that at the time of designation the council’s process had 279 steps from receipt to decision-ready. These have been reduced to just 19.