Agenda item

Councillors Strong, Howells, Crook, Garratt and Buckler noted that they are members of the Planning Committee.

Andrew Jones delivered a presentation and answered the members’ questions:

Now that the planning and heritage enforcement teams are back to full staffing levels, are there still any outstanding enforcement cases that have not been progressed, and are you confident that performance can improve from "fair" to consistently "good"?

Both the enforcement and heritage teams are now at full complement. A new Principal Planning Enforcement Officer has been appointed and the Principal Heritage Officer role has been strengthened, with both officers forming part of the service leadership team. While performance has occasionally reached the "good" category already, a single complex case can sometimes move an indicator back into "fair". The service is confident that several planned improvements will help achieve more consistent performance. These include a new enforcement policy, better reporting systems for the public, a more structured triage system for cases, quarterly reporting to Planning Committee, greater use of enforcement warning notices, and specialist enforcement training for officers.

How will the new enforcement policy improve the service?

The policy will introduce a more intuitive reporting process, allowing members of the public, councillors and community councils to provide better quality information from the outset. This should reduce delays caused by officers having to obtain further details after a complaint is received. It will also introduce a formal triage system for high, medium and low-priority cases, with clear timescales for responding to each category. Quarterly updates to Planning Committee will improve transparency and accountability, particularly for long-running cases. The policy will also support increased use of enforcement warning notices, which can secure action more quickly by requiring retrospective planning applications where appropriate.

What other actions are being taken to strengthen enforcement activity?

Joint training has been arranged with Trading Standards and Licensing for November. This will focus on evidence gathering and investigative procedures, particularly for complex land-use cases where identifying the responsible party can be difficult. The training is intended to improve the collection of admissible evidence and strengthen the council's ability to pursue enforcement action and prosecutions where necessary.

Several actions listed in previous reports appear again in this year's report. Are there timescales for completing them and what progress has been made?

Most actions are progressing as planned. The digitisation of historic planning and enforcement records was always expected to take several years because of the volume of records involved. Scanning work has largely been completed, but further work is needed to map records digitally and carry out data quality checks. Funding secured through external projects has accelerated some elements of this work. The Buildings at Risk Strategy is also a long-term programme rather than a one-year project. Progress has been slower because of staffing vacancies, but with the heritage team now fully staffed it is expected to accelerate over the next year. Professional accreditation work is almost complete, with only one remaining officer still requiring formal delegation from Cadw. The wider service restructure has been completed, with a small number of new starters joining to finalise implementation.

The report highlights a 97% approval rate and a high proportion of decisions made under delegated powers, but how do we know these are the right decisions for communities? What independent assessment is undertaken to test the quality of planning decisions, particularly where applications generate significant public opposition?

The strongest measure of decision quality is the council's performance at appeal. If poor decisions were being made, this would be reflected in appeals being upheld against the council or in awards of costs for unreasonable decision-making. That is not occurring. Planning decisions are made against planning policy and material considerations rather than the volume of objections received. Every application that attracts objections is assessed through an officer report which addresses the issues raised and explains how they have been considered. The service also seeks to negotiate improvements to developments where possible, including on smaller applications, to secure better outcomes. Officers meet regularly to review cases collectively, ensuring consistency in the interpretation of policy and in decision-making. Overall, there is confidence that the service is applying planning policy appropriately and making robust decisions.

How do we know that the Planning Committee is providing effective democratic oversight rather than simply endorsing officer recommendations?

Members do overturn officer recommendations on occasion, demonstrating that they exercise independent judgement. The committee's role is to make informed planning decisions in the public interest. The planning system operates within a policy framework, and decisions must be justified against planning considerations. The fact that the council maintains a strong appeal performance provides reassurance that both officer recommendations and committee decisions are generally robust.

What safeguards exist to ensure that professional planning advice remains independent and is not influenced by political priorities, particularly in the context of the Replacement Local Development Plan?

Planning officers assess applications and policies against adopted planning policy and material planning considerations. Reports set out how objections have been considered and explain the reasons for recommendations. The service operates through regular peer review of cases, whereby officers meet twice weekly to discuss applications, ensure consistent interpretation of policy and maintain consistency in decision-making. This professional process is intended to ensure that decisions remain evidence-based and policy-led.

Would it be useful to undertake an independent review of a sample of delegated and committee decisions to assess the quality of planning reasoning and how objections have been considered?

This is a potentially interesting and worthwhile piece of work. However, assessing and measuring the quality of planning decisions would be a substantial exercise and would require careful consideration of what criteria would be used to define a high-quality decision. The suggestion is acknowledged as something that could be explored further.

The report notes that there is no dedicated training budget. How is staff training currently funded, and is there scope to secure a specific budget for professional development?

Training is currently supported through existing service resources and external opportunities. Officers regularly access continuing professional development (CPD) provided by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), including conferences, digital learning sessions and specialist planning events. The service has also been able to support staff through postgraduate qualifications and trainee development routes, helping to develop planners internally in response to the national shortage of qualified planning professionals.

Are there opportunities to work with other local authorities to share knowledge, training and best practice, similar to the collaboration already taking place on minerals planning work with Carmarthenshire?

Yes. The planning profession already works collaboratively through national networks and professional bodies. The RTPI provides Wales-wide conferences and training events, and from next year will introduce separate conferences specifically for development management officers and planning policy officers. These events are intended to provide greater opportunities for officers from different authorities to share best practice, discuss case studies and learn from each other.

How are officers encouraged and supported to undertake professional development?

Professional development is actively encouraged. The service supports officers undertaking formal qualifications and professional accreditation, and makes extensive use of RTPI training opportunities. Training is also tailored to emerging issues affecting the service. Officers work closely as a team, identify common challenges and arrange learning sessions to develop consistent approaches.

Can you provide an example of how training is being targeted towards current planning issues?

The service had arranged a specific training session on agricultural buildings and development in the open countryside, reflecting an increase in applications involving isolated buildings on small parcels of land. The purpose is to ensure consistency in decision-making and policy interpretation across the team, so that applicants and residents are treated fairly and decisions are made consistently.

A member welcomed the improvements that had been made to the planning enforcement service. Drawing on recent experience in his ward, he said he had already seen evidence of better enforcement activity and wanted to record his appreciation for the progress that had been made.

Who is responsible for monitoring compliance with Construction Traffic Management Plans attached to planning permissions, and how are those conditions enforced when concerns are raised by residents?

Responsibility for complying with Construction Traffic Management Plans rests with the developer. Monmouthshire benefits from having a dedicated enforcement monitoring officer who monitors compliance with planning conditions, although there are practical limitations in being able to observe multiple development sites throughout the day. The forthcoming enforcement policy is intended to make it easier for residents and councillors to provide evidence of breaches, helping officers take action more quickly. Improvements to evidence gathering, including specialist enforcement training and interview techniques, should also strengthen the council's ability to investigate and pursue breaches effectively.

What is being done when developers fail to comply with Construction Traffic Management Plans?

Where breaches are identified, enforcement action can be taken, including the use of breach of condition notices. However, one of the challenges is that the penalties available under current legislation are relatively limited and may not provide a significant deterrent, particularly for large housebuilders. The council has repeatedly raised this issue with Welsh Government and continues to argue for stronger and more proportionate sanctions where planning conditions are breached.

There appears to be a reduction in the number of planning applications coming before the Planning Committee compared with previous years. Is there a particular reason for this, and is it part of a wider trend across Wales?

The reduction largely reflects a fall in the number of planning applications being received overall. Comparative data from across Wales shows that authorities operate different delegation schemes, resulting in significant variation in the number of applications considered by committees. Monmouthshire sits broadly in the middle of the range, and there is no particular concern about the number of applications being referred to committee. Comparative Welsh data can be shared to show how other authorities are performing in this respect. – ACTION: to send all-Wales data to Members

Section 106 income has fallen by around 25%. Does this simply reflect the stage reached in the current Local Development Plan, and would the adoption of the Replacement Local Development Plan be expected to increase Section 106 contributions in future?

The reduction is a consequence of the current Local Development Plan reaching the end of its lifecycle. Most of the larger allocated sites that generated substantial Section 106 contributions have already received planning permission and been developed. As a result, current contributions are mainly being generated by smaller windfall developments. If the Replacement Local Development Plan is adopted and new strategic allocations come forward for planning permission, Section 106 contributions would be expected to increase significantly as those sites enter the development process.

Could the report present Welsh performance comparisons in a clearer visual format, such as charts, rather than mainly in text form?

Welsh Government already produces comparative performance charts showing how authorities perform against one another. These could be shared with members. It was also agreed that future versions of the report could include these comparisons as appendices, providing a clearer and more accessible visual comparison of Monmouthshire's performance against other Welsh planning authorities.

Chair’s Summary:

Thank you to the officer for the report and responses to the committee. The report was moved.