Decision details

(Time: 4.29pm to 4.31pm)

The Executive received and considered an agenda report regarding the Planning Delivery Grant for 2007/08.  The Department for Communities and Local Government had announced the latest provisional allocations of Planning Delivery Grant.  The Vale was likely to receive in the order of £389,000.  The Government had advised that this additional funding was to enable local authorities to improve their planning resources and services and to assist in the introduction of the many changes involved in its programme of planning reforms.  The grant was required to be split 75%-25% between the recipient authority’s resource and capital budgets. 

The Vale’s 2007/08 grant award was made up of the following award elements:

·      Development Control performance:                                                       £147k

(Reward for meeting application processing targets for major, minor and other applications in 2006/7)

·      Housing:                                                                                                    £180.5k

(Reward for housing delivery in a “High Demand” area based on the net additions to housing stock over a rolled forward three year period)

·      Plan making                                                                                              £  58.5k

(Meeting the milestone targets in the Local Development Scheme and the extent to which the authority is able to report on a range of National Core Output indicators in its Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report)

·      E-Planning                                                                                                £      3k

(Reward for achieving e-planning targets)

The Executive noted that the exact amount of the grant award would not be confirmed until later in the year.  However, as the Executive would be preparing its revenue budget and capital programme over the next few months Members agreed to put a mechanism in place to authorise Planning Delivery Grant expenditure, in particular where this could be seen to relieve pressures on the Service Area budget.  Proposals designed to accord with the Government’s grant objectives were being drafted to ensure planning performance could be maintained and enhanced and also to invest in schemes that would be of corporate wide benefit. 

RESOLVED

that authority be delegated to the Deputy Director (Planning and Community Strategy), in consultation with the Executive Portfolio holder for Planning and Community Strategy and the Opposition Planning Spokesman, to agree expenditure of the Council’s 2007/08 Planning Delivery Grant award.