Decision details

RESOLVED that the future vision for the service and to the implementation of the recommendations and associated savings emanating from the Transformation Review of the Planning & Building Control Service be agreed, as detailed in Annex A and Annex B to the Executive Report.

Implementation of these recommendations will ensure that the savings target attributed to this review is met with effect from 2018/19 and will ensure that the service remains sustainable whilst also improving the customer experience where possible.

Adopting a more commercial approach within the service will ensure that the services we are offering are packaged and marketed appropriately to increase take-up and raise awareness of what the teams can offer. The creation of a business development plan will help to support the team in carrying out this work.

Implementing a re-design of the service will ensure a smooth and efficient customer journey through the service resulting in reduced decision making time, an increase in customer self-service and an increase in stakeholder satisfaction. This workstream also aims to deliver an improvement in collaborative working between the teams in scope and internal stakeholders.

Alternative sourcing options were considered such as sharing or outsourcing services. There is has previously been limited appetite from members for sharing or outsourcing large parts of the service, however there are opportunities for sharing or buying in certain smaller elements of the service and these opportunities will be pursued as and when they arise.

A set of seven recommendations were presented to members at the Gateway Review; three of these were not endorsed by members to be taken forward to implementation and as such will not be pursued further. The recommendations that the members were not minded to support are as follows:

·         Members discuss the concept of a Local Development Order for Bracknell Forest and support further consultation with members with a view to the creation of an LDO in 2019.

·         Members discuss and agree the concept of increasing the threshold to 10 objections for automatic referral to Planning Committee.

·         Members agree that Committee site visits be undertaken during office hours as opposed to on a Saturday.

Primary Authority was raised by members at the Gateway Review meeting. Primary Authority is a means for businesses to receive assured and tailored advice on meeting environmental health, trading standards or fire safety regulations through a single point of contact. This ensures start-ups get it right at the outset and enables all businesses to invest with confidence in products, practices and procedures, knowing that the resources they devote to compliance are well spent. It is not relevant to Building Control Services so cannot be pursued in the next phase.

None.

Members of the Council