More good progress for planning service after reforms

Following recommendations - which included securing an independent review and a resetting of departmental priorities and input from the Environment Committee's Task and Finish Group - from the Planning Advisory Service and a Task and Finish Group, Bedford Borough Council's Planning Service has made excellent progress against national targets. Minor applications are now being determined within eight weeks 87% of the time (November 2022) - a huge improvement since actions were taken and well above the government's 70% target. The proportion of major applications determined within 13 weeks has also remained comfortably above the national target.

Portfolio Holder for Town Centres and Planning Councillor Henry Vann said "This is brilliant news. Following the global pandemic our whole planning team have worked to help turn things around and Bedford Borough is delivering an improved planning service for residents and businesses. With strong performance figures, innovative recruitment programmes and a vision for the future, Bedford Borough is the place to invest and is the place to be a planner. This will mean we can provide a high-quality service to residents and business owners. If anyone is having issues they can continue to feed in to the changes as we continue to see improvements."

The Local Government Association's Planning Advisory Service gave a number of recommendations in late 2021. Since then, the Planning Service has, amongst other actions, improved its recruitment strategy, reduced the case backlog from 121 to 39 applications (as of 1st December 2022) and reinstated the pre-application advice service.

Liberal Democrat Planning Spokesperson Councillor Jon Abbott who contributed to the review said "As a member of one of the supporting reviews, the new Scheme of Delegation and other changes protect residents' rights in the planning process and have improved the work of the Planning Committee greatly."