Purpose

To receive and consider the recommendations to Council in relation to the PAS Planning Committee Review.

Decision

It was RESOLVED that Cabinet:

a.     Received the PAS Planning Committee Review report (Appendix A) and recommend that Full Council notes the positive commentary and areas for improvement identified.

b.    Agreed the Action Plan (Appendix B) to address the recommendations of the review, noting the actions already implemented.

c.     Agreed that preparatory work commence on a revised Scheme of Delegation and associated constitutional changes to align with the draft national scheme of delegation, with final adoption to follow once the Regulations are made.

d.    Agreed that progress on the Action Plan be reviewed after 12 months.

Reasons for the Decision

This report presents the findings from the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) Planning Committee Review (February 2026) and proposes next steps to strengthen decision?making, governance and performance of the Planning Committee.

The review was commissioned proactively in response to the potential designation risk (Section 62B, Town and Country Planning Act 1990) linked to the quality of decision?making on Major applications, with the intention of taking early action to improve robustness and resilience. The review provides an independent assessment of the operation, effectiveness and robustness of the Planning Committee.

Alternative Options Considered

Option 1: Do Nothing Not recommended. This would fail to mitigate designation risk and miss opportunities to improve decision quality and public confidence.

Option 2: Implement PAS Recommendations (Preferred) Delivers measurable improvements to committee operation, transparency, performance and community engagement.