Decision details

RESOLVED – That Cabinet approved the implementation of a chargeable pre-application advice service, in accordance with the charging schedule attached at appendix 1 to the report and the draft service standards at appendix 2 to the report

REASONS FOR DECISION – The charge will provide an income stream to support proposals for additional resources within the Planning Service and will reduce reliance on the general fund to subsidise the cost of delivering pre-application advice. This will give customers greater clarity about the depth of advice they will receive and the timeframes that their items will be responded to.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND REJECTED - The option of not charging for advice and/or not to introduce a more structured service with clear expectations on and for customers was considered but rejected. The charge represents an opportunity for the Service to become more financially resilient and facilitate the shift in time and resources to the pre-application stage, in conjunction with a much shorter turn around time for formal applications.

Please note that this was not a Key Decision and so can be implemented with immediate effect by officers.