I am writing, pursuant to the FOI / EIR regulations, to seek the following information (expressed as total sums / numbers for the given period), for EACH of the following financial years: 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23:
1. Total Development Management (DM) department budget (net cost to taxpayer, being total costs minus total income). Please confirm whether DM budget includes or excludes enforcement / validation / administration / other non planing application assessment officer elements.
2. Total Planning (DM, enforcement, planing policy, and design / trees / conservation teams where these fall within the Planning group) department budget (cost to taxpayer, being total costs minus total income)
3. Total permanent staffing costs within each year for DM team
4. Total FTE number of permanent officers within DM team
5. Total permanent staffing costs within each year for Planning team
6. Total FTE number of permanent officers within Planning
7. Total temporary / agency staffing costs for DM team
8. Total FTE number of DM permanent and temporary agency officers working as case officers (being those officers whose primary role is the assessment of planning and related applications and pre-applications / PPAs)
9. Total FTE number of temporary / agency officers within DM team
10. Total temporary / agency staffing costs for Planning team
11. Total FTE number of temporary / agency officers within Planning team
12. Organisation chart/charts for Planning department.
13. Total cost of externally procured services relating to the assessment of planning and related applications and pre-application / PPAs (such as ecology / heritage / design / trees advice)
14. DM Planning and related applications (defined as planing applications / advert consent / prior approval / LDC / LBC / NMA / condition discharge etc) income
15. Total number of planning and related applications decided
16. Fast track services (for planning and related applications) fee income (if applicable)
17. DM Pre-application income (please clarify if this total also includes PPA income)
18. Total number of pre-applications received
19. DM Planning Performance Agreement income (if recorded or available separately - including pre-applications subject to PPAs)
20. Total number of PPAs agreed
21. Current number of undetermined planning and related applications
22. Current number of undetermined planning and related applications where the original statutory determination period has passed
23. Current number of undetermined planning and related applications where the original statutory determination period AND extension of time date / PPA (where the date is recorded on your planning database) has passed
24. Total of planning appeal awards of costs received
25. Total of planning appeal awards of costs expended
I am looking to see if, and to what extent the general tax payer is currently funding the assessment of planning proposals, in advance of the increased planning application fee levels due later this year. The government appear to acknowledge that teh fee increases will still fall short of allowign planning services to be paid for by fee income, so I would like to see how much of a gap currently exists (if it does). I also want to understand the impact of the government's proposed extensions to the performance monitoring regime.