Minutes:
The Committee considered the following report which gave an overview of the Council’s preparations for assuming responsibility for the planning function from 1st April onwards:
“1.0 Background information
1.1 On 1st April 2015 a range of planning functions will transfer from DOE to the council. The Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for this ‘project’ is John McGrillen and a programme team of DOE and BCC officers is coordinating delivery of a detailed project plan. A project board (the ‘Planning Panel’) has also been established with input from across Council.
1.2 The transfer of planning is largely seen in two phases - transition and transformation. The current priority is a successful transition. Namely, ensuring the Council can discharge its statutory duties and deliver business critical planning functions from 1st April 2015.
1.3 At its meeting on 13 January the Council’s Audit Panel requested that the SRO submit to the Shadow Planning Committee a state of readiness report (and that this be forwarded to the Audit Panel following Shadow Planning Committee consideration). A report was subsequently presented to Shadow Planning Committee in February and also to the Council’s Assurance Board and Audit Panel in early March.
1.4 The purpose of this report is therefore to provide an update on readiness since the previous report to committee and highlight key areas requiring further action and the proposed work to address these. Readiness in this instance has been judged by our ability to:
1. Receive and process new, or live, applications for planning permission, Tree Preservation Order requests and enforcement case; and
2. Support the work of the new Planning Committee.
1.5 Appendix 1 outlines the key deliverables that must be in place in order for this to happen and provides an assessment of readiness; indicated by a Red, Amber, and Green (RAG) status. This has been informed by input from officers and senior managers across council.
1.6 The SRO’s assessment at this time indicates that the majority of tasks are either completed or on target for completion within the required timescales and, as such, it is considered that the Council is well placed to deliver planning from 1st April 2015. However given the scale of change and ongoing issues that still need to be managed regarding the portal, processes, governance arrangements and staff transfer, it is inevitable that issues will arise in the early weeks and months following the transfer of planning. Any such issues will continue to be managed by the project team in consultation with planning staff.
2.0 Summary of key issues
2.1 There are a number of key issues of which members should be aware. These are summarised below with details of current and proposed mitigating actions. Further detail on these and other work streams is outlined in Appendix 1.
2.2 These actions have been included within the project plan and issues log that is reported regularly to the Planning Panel and TMT. Key issues that remain critical in relation to day 1 include:
2.3 Planning Portal
· The re-configuration and testing of the NI Planning Portal is an ongoing process and is being delivered by the DOE.
· The Portal will continue to be ‘owned’ by the DOE at a regional level and therefore the Council does not have the ability to change or adapt it.
· The Council is therefore reliant upon the DOE to ensure that the system meets operational needs and is operational from 1st April.
· The DOE will not provide access to the Portal from the BCC network until 1st April.
Mitigating actions
1. Staff from the Belfast Planning Office have been nominated to attend the DOE portal testing schedule and provide feedback on system updates
2. Connectivity to the Portal on the BCC network has been established and tested.
3. A regional governance structure for the ongoing management and subsequent replacement of the portal (post 2019) is to be agreed by Chief Executives.
4. A business continuity plan will be put in place to respond to any potential connectivity issues.
2.4 Regional SLAs
· A number of services will be delivered through a shared services agreement i.e. facilitated by one council on behalf of all 11 councils. Examples include Property Certificates and environmental services.
· An SLA, provided by the DOE, outlining how they will be resourced and how councils can access them, is to be agreed.
· Regional SLAs with statutory Consultees must also be agreed. NILGA were originally asked to lead this work stream, however these have not been sufficiently progressed and are not yet agreed.
Mitigating actions
· The new councils have agreed to lead the development of new SLAs with statutory consultees in place of NILGA. Belfast City Council will progress the SLAs with DRD and Northern Ireland Water. It should be noted however that the Planning Act (NI) 2011 places the onus on statutory Consultees to respond within a stated timeframe and therefore provides sufficient protection for the Council as planning authority to proceed with decision making.
· Shadow Planning has granted authority to the Chief Executive to enter into an SLA for the provision of shared environmental services.
2.5 Telephony
· Belfast City Council, along with 8 of the other new Councils, will be maintaining the use of NI Direct for call handling.
· Customers will therefore continue to use the same contact number (0300 200 7830) and calls will be transferred to staff in Cecil Ward as required.
· Guidance has been given to Council telephony staff on what to do should they receive calls directly through the Council exchange however further work is required to confirm that this system interface will be in place for day 1.
Mitigating actions
1. Council has been meeting directly with NI Direct and data transfer between systems has been confirmed; though voice transfer is still to be confirmed
2. Communications is being sent to all applicants/objectors/correspondents from 2nd April to confirm the change of contact details and new office location.
3. Council will ensure that key staff have direct dials and mobiles/blackberries to ensure staff are accessible to members and the public as required.
2.6 Transitional Arrangements
· Arrangements are required in order to manage the transfer of live applications from transferring areas. This includes arrangements for handover by case officers, relocation of Portal reference numbers, allocation of fees for partially processed applications and transfer of hard files.
· Consideration is also required in relation to how deferrals by the existing Town Planning Committee will be handled.
Mitigating actions
1. Further input from DOE is to be sought in relation to transitional arrangements and in particular the allocation of fees.
2. The local Area Planning Manager has been engaging with his Lisburn & Castlereagh counterpart to determine the volume and complexity of transferring cases .
3. Democratic Services has scheduled an additional Town Planning Committee meeting in order that any outstanding deferred cases can be considered before transfer.”
The Committee noted the information which had been provided.