Agenda item

A report of the Head of Strategic Support presenting the findings and recommendations of the Five Year Housing Supply Scrutiny Panel along with officer advice in response.

Considered a report of the Head of Strategic Support presenting the findings and recommendations of the Five Year Housing Supply Scrutiny Panel along with officer advice in response (item 6 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

Councillor Seaton, as Chair of the Panel, presented the findings and recommendations of the Panel.  The Head of Planning and Regeneration presented the officer advice and recommendations in response.

The Head of Strategic Support assisted with consideration of the report.

Following consideration of the report, the Leader thanked Councillor Seaton and the Panel for the work undertaken in respect of the matter.

RESOLVED

1.            that, in respect of Panel Recommendation 1, the Council’s Business Plan be amended to include the five year housing supply figure as one of the Council’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), with effect from the 2019/20 Business Plan, and that quarterly direction of travel indicators be made available to councillors as required;

2.            that, in respect of Panel Recommendation 2, the Council’s Business Plan be amended to include the various deadlines by which planning applications of different types should be determined as KPIs, with effect from the 2019/20 Business Plan;

3.            that Panel Recommendation 3 be noted and that, once the Council had had the opportunity to consider the draft report by Sir Oliver Letwin setting out his review of land supply and housing delivery, the Cabinet Lead Member for Planning, Inward Investment and Tourism Strategy, in consultation with the Chair of the Five Year Housing Supply Scrutiny Panel, writes to the Government with any further recommendations of this Council to that report;

4.            that, in respect of Panel Recommendation 4, the Cabinet Lead Member for Planning, Inward Investment and Tourism Strategy, in conjunction with relevant officers, continuously reviews the processes for dealing with section 106 agreements, reserved matters applications and pre-commencement conditions, to identify any areas for improvement and to bring any issues to the attention of the Cabinet as appropriate;

5.            that, in respect of Panel Recommendation 5, the current review of the Core Strategy be completed in accordance with the timetable set out in the Local Development Scheme agreed by the Cabinet most recently on 15th March 2018.

Reasons

1.         To ensure the figures are reported and monitored corporately and by the Performance Scrutiny Panel on a regular basis and to ensure that councillors are informed of the general direction of travel with the Five Year Housing Supply on a quarterly basis.  Discussion at this meeting suggested that the latter information might usefully be made available to the Performance Scrutiny Panel, the Plans Committee and at quarterly planning training for councillors.

2.         To ensure the figures are reported and monitored corporately and by the Performance Scrutiny Panel on a regular basis

3.         The Cabinet acknowledged the Panel’s wish to reinforce the need for enforcement sanctions for non-completion of developments through writing to the Government, but considered it appropriate and useful to consider the content of the Letwin report before doing so. 

4.         The Cabinet acknowledged the Panel’s wish for a best practice review of these processes and the reasons for that, but considered continuous review by the Cabinet Lead Member to be more appropriate and useful, particularly as a comprehensive best practice review had been undertaken in 2015.

5.         To ensure that it remains the most relevant for the residents of Charnwood and that the review is completed in a timely manner.