Decision details

(Report of Management Team)

Consideration was given to the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting of 15 September 2015 on the outcome of a review of those elements of the Peer Challenge relating to the number and style of Council meetings and the Area Planning Committees.

The report referred to the serious concerns raised by some Members on the prospect of moving to a single Planning Committee structure and suggested alternative ways forward for implementing the recommendations.

The Cabinet welcomed the significant amount of debate generated by the review and recognised the value placed on the area planning committee system by many Members.  In the light of the divergent views on the matter, it was agreed that a decision should not be taken in isolation of the other challenges facing the Council but considered in the context of the Medium Term Financial Strategy and Corporate Plan.

The Cabinet resolved that:

(1)             the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be agreed in respect of matters other than regarding the Area Planning Committees and the Committee, in particular Members of the review panel, be thanked for their work; and

(2)            a decision on whether to change the current Area Planning Committee structure be deferred pending consideration of broader matters including the Medium Term Financial Strategy and the forthcoming Corporate Plan.  In the meantime the Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health and Director of Central Services be asked to implement some practical improvements to the current system, identified during the work of the review panel, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation and the Chairmen of the Area Planning Committees.