image for illustration: Open Government Licence v3.0
The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) has issued the results of the Modernising Planning Committee survey carried out between October and December 2024.
PAS writes:
What we did: During the months of October to December 2024, PAS ran a survey on Modernising Planning Committees. We collected responses from 122 participants from councils throughout England. The survey aimed to assess planning committee structures, processes, and areas for improvement by generating a national picture of how Planning Committees operate. The survey used a simply form format and was designed not to be too onerous to complete. The survey was open to both local authority officers and Planning Committee members to complete; of the 122 responses there was a mixture of Officer (78%) and Member (22%) responses.
Key Findings: Key findings indicate that most councils operate with a single planning committee, have set periods between meetings, have a pre agreed number of regular Member participants, and provide training opportunities on at least an annual basis which are usually mandatory for Member attendance. In fact, three-quarters (75%) of respondents have all of the following:
- A single Planning Committee made up of 9 – 12 members
- Planning Committee is held once a month
- The agenda is 4 or less items
- The meeting last 3 hours or less
- A delegation rate of over 90%
This shows that over three quarters of councils are operating their Planning Committees along the same lines and with a high degree of consistency, many elements of which are in-line with PAS best practice. However, the survey also identified some significant outliers from the usual operating model for Planning Committees, with 3% of respondents having all of the following:
- A single Planning Committee made up of over 15 members
- Planning Committee is held once a month
- The agenda is 5 items or more
- The meeting lasts 4 hours or more
The survey explored whether the training provided was effective and whether respondents felt that all members of the council understood Planning. The survey responses to this question are from both local authority officers and members. Overwhelmingly the answer was in the negative, with 45% saying ‘No’ and only 17% saying ‘Yes’; indicating the current way training is being delivered is, on the whole, not resulting in members who are confident in their skills and knowledge of Planning.
