Agenda item

a)            Strategic Planning and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee - 13 March 2006

            Refugees and Asylum Seekers Advice Project

            The following was agreed at the above meeting.  The full minute extract is attached at Appendix A.

1)      that the Committee gives its support to Cabinet in approaching the Home Office for further funding for the project;

2)      that Neighbourhood Renewal Funding be sought and that work be undertaken to actively seek other funding sources; and

3)      that the Council provide interim funding for the project until a longer term solution has been found however if the proposed avenues for funding the project prove unsuccessful, then the Council underwrites funding for the project.

Councillor Farmer to respond.

b)            Strategic Planning and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee - 13 March 2006

Planning Application Statistics

The following was agreed at the above meeting.  The full minute extract is attached at Appendix A.

(1)       that the Cabinet be asked to re-consider the name of the Development Control Committee, possibly to include the word ‘Planning’;

(2)       that Cabinet be requested to consider this report and give consideration to the concerns of the Committee, with regard to the potential deteriorating performance in the planning service which could result from the budget cuts;

(3)       that that Committee asks for a report back on the Action Plan to improve the performance of the planning service;

(4)       that the Committee would like the use of pre-planning discussions promoted if they proved useful;

(5)       that the Committee requests to see statistics on comparator cities with regard to their planning services.

c)            Development Control Committee - 21 March 2006

Planning Application Statistics

The following was agreed at the above meeting.  The full minute extract is attached at Appendix A.

that the report be referred to Cabinet and that the Committee’s concerns be responded to.

Councillor Farmer to respond.

a)            Strategic Planning and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee - 13 March 2006

            Refugees and Asylum Seekers Advice Project (RASAP)

            The following was agreed at the above meeting. 

1)      that the Committee gives its support to Cabinet in approaching the Home Office for further funding for the project;

2)      that Neighbourhood Renewal Funding be sought and that work be undertaken to actively seek other funding sources; and

3)      that the Council provide interim funding for the project until a longer term solution has been found however if the proposed avenues for funding the project prove unsuccessful, then the Council underwrites funding for the project.

Councillor Farmer reported that to date no reply had been received from the Home Office to the letter from the Cabinet requesting continued funding for RASAP.  It was noted that it was hoped that the project would be funded from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) through the 'new arrival strategy'.  However, no decisons on the NRF had yet been taken.  The Cabinet could not agree to underwrite the project should other sources of funding not become available as the Council did not have the resources.    However, it was noted that the Leicester Partnership had given in principle agreement for transitional NRF funding to continue the project.

b)            Strategic Planning and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee - 13 March 2006

Planning Application Statistics

The following was agreed at the above meeting.

(1)       that the Cabinet be asked to re-consider the name of the Development Control Committee, possibly to include the word ‘Planning’;

(2)       that Cabinet be requested to consider this report and give consideration to the concerns of the Committee, with regard to the potential deteriorating performance in the planning service which could result from the budget cuts;

(3)       that that Committee asks for a report back on the Action Plan to improve the performance of the planning service;

(4)       that the Committee would like the use of pre-planning discussions promoted if they proved useful;

(5)       that the Committee requests to see statistics on comparator cities with regard to their planning services.

c)            Development Control Committee - 21 March 2006

Planning Application Statistics

The following was agreed at the above meeting. 

that the report be referred to Cabinet and that the Committee’s concerns be responded to.

Councillor Farmer responded that with regard to the name of the Development Control Committee, the request of the Scrutiny Committee would be referred to the Council whose decision it was.  He did not accept that the budget reconfiguration should lead to a reduction in performance but added that the Cabinet was concerned about the current level of performance in the process for determining planning applications and advised that the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Culture would be providing for Cabinet Members a 'road map' for developing and completing a full action plan to address the issues along with some 'quick wins'.  A report on the action plan would also be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee as requested.  It was noted that the main area of difficulty was the determination of major planning applications, which although the department had determined twice as many of these applications within the required timeframe over the last year, given that the number of applications had doubled in the same timeframe, due to the level of regeneration activity currently happening in the City, the performance failed to meet the major applications target.  Other targets, however, had been met.  Councillor Farmer also supported Development Control Committee's request to officers for pre-planning discussions and for further work on comparator cities.

RESOLVED:

(1)that Council be asked to consider the request of the Strategic Planning and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee with regard to the name of the Development Control Committee; and

(2)that the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Culture provide for Cabinet Members a 'road map' for the provision and completion of an action plan to improve planning application determination performance and submit a report on the action plan to the Strategic Planning and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee, in due course.