To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 June 2015 (Minute Nos. 41 – 44) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 June 2015 (Minute Nos. 41 – 44) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Committee is asked to consider the report.  The Cabinet Member for Planning has been invited to attend the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting.

The Head of Planning introduced the report and advised that the proposed draft Charter attached to the report would be used as the basis for consultation with Ward Members and Parish Councils in August/September 2015.  He particularly welcomed views on the priorities listed in paragraph 2.6, on handling complaints and Members’ involvement in decision-making.  He referred to the proposal to enable officers to take more action without the need for Committee approval; for earlier involvement of Members in the process; and the new performance indicators for monitoring enforcement.  He advised that there would be a pre-view of a new system later in the meeting which would allow Members to access information more easily, and that monthly reports would be re-introduced.  In respect of the performance indicators, he advised that they had hit targets over the last two months.  The Head of Planning advised there was a proposal for long-term monitoring which would involve the Chairman of the Planning Committee, the Cabinet Member for Planning and Ward Member(s), and that there would be a review of the operational structure of the team.

The Chairman advised that he would take the report page by page, and invited Members to ask questions.

In response to questions the Cabinet Member for Planning and the Head of Planning confirmed that:  the Planning Enforcement Team were already integrated with the Development Management Team, in that development management officers took on part of the casework; there was a service level agreement (SLA) with the legal shared services partnership which had resulted in significant improvements over recent years;  it was acknowledged that there had been some difficulties working across the teams at times, but the introduction of the SLA, the sharepoint system and a revision to the way they worked together had resulted in significant improvements. 

In respect of the consultation with Parish Councils, the Head of Planning undertook to give the Swale Area Committee of the Kent Association of Local Councils, and Parish Councils, at least two months to respond to the consultation.  It was also confirmed that if there were significant changes proposed to the document, as a result of the consultation, then the report would be considered by the Cabinet, which Members of the Committee were welcome to attend.

In respect of case monitoring, the Head of Planning advised that the previous performance indicator related to the time taken to undertake a site inspection, whereas the new indicator also required a response within 21 days.

In respect of officer recommendations for no further action, there was a debate about membership of the panel; whether the panel could meet virtually; who would chair the panel and whether the chair would have a casting vote; whether Parish Councils should also be involved; the voting rights of the panel, in particular taking into account that some wards comprised of one, two or three Members.  The Head of Planning Services noted that there was general agreement to the principle of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 126.

The Committee is asked to review and discuss the Committee’s Work Programme (attached) for the remainder of the year.

The Policy and Performance Officer drew attention to the revised schedule, which had been updated since the last meeting of the Committee.  In response to comments regarding the number of items proposed for the 9 September meeting, it was suggested that the following items could be deferred: Access Strategy/Digital First and Climate Local Swale.

Resolved:

(1) That the report be noted.