In October 2023, SDC invited the Local Government Association's Planning Advisory Service (PAS) to undertake a Peer Challenge of its planning service, with a report setting out its recommendations received in January 2024. Since then, the PAS work has been subsumed into a wider Development department visioning programme, complete with action plan setting out changes that the department will undertake to further improve its performance and enhance its service. This work is currently underway.
In summary, the PAS Peer Challenge team found that:
“The Planning Service, as a whole, is regarded as a well-performing one; attributed to its excellent performance on meeting national measures on decision-making and a strong track record in plan-making […] We did not find any critical systemic issues and the recommendations for improvement are refinements and should be viewed in this context. […Our…] recommendations are designed to assist the Council in further improving its service delivery."
John Careford, SDC's Head of Development, who is leading the visioning programme would like to thank all staff for their ongoing and continued participation and support for the Visioning Programme; KBA Solutions and the Peer Challenge Team for their input; and all stakeholders, especially parish councillors, who participated in the Peer Challenge workshops.
View the Visioning Programme here.
