Purpose

This decision seeks approval to relaunch an enhanced service with a new schedule of fees set individually for each application type - replacing the previous single flat fee - and to extend the service to a wider range of application types.

The Fast Track Application Service, introduced in January 2024, is an optional premium service through which applicants pay a fee, over and above the statutory planning fee, for a faster review of their planning application; the service has been suspended since November 2025 following the cyber-attack on the Council.

Decision

The Lead Member has AGREED to:

(i)    Delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Place to make minor operational changes to the Fast Track service’s criteria, guidance and process, without requiring a further Key Decision;

(ii)   Delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Place to pause the Fast Track service again, at any time, if performance of the statutory planning service is at risk;

(iii)Note the update on the performance of the Fast Track Application Service since its launch in January 2024, set out in the Background section of this report;

(iv)Note that the Fast Track fees will be reviewed after the first year of the relaunched service and annually thereafter, alongside the April 2027 uplift.

(v)  Approve the relaunch of the Fast Track Application Service in October 2026, extended to the application types set out in Table 1; and

(vi)Approve the new schedule of Fast Track fees at Table 1, which replaces the single flat fee, with fees continuing to be increased each April in line with the national planning application fee uplift.