The Local Government (Best Value) Performance Indicators Order 2000

On 31st March, did you have a development plan which was adopted in the last 5 years? If “No”—

For those adopted plans not adopted within the 5 years ending on 31st March, were there on this date proposals on deposit for their alteration or replacement and have you publicly adopted a timetable for adopting those alterations or the replacement plan?

For the purposes of this indicator, authorities will only be able to answer “Yes” to question 1a, if the following requirements are met—

• local planning authorities responsible for preparing a district-wide local plan must have a single area-wide local plan which was adopted in the last 5 years;

• local planning authorities responsible for preparing a unitary development plan must have a unitary development plan which was adopted in the last 5 years;

• local planning authorities responsible for preparing a district wide local plan, minerals and waste local plans (either individually or on a joint basis) and for joint preparation of a structure plan must have a single area-wide local plan, minerals and waste local plans, and a structure plan which were all adopted in the last 5 years; and

• local planning authorities responsible for structure plans and minerals and waste local plans (on a joint basis if appropriate) must have a structure plan and minerals and waste local plans which were all adopted in the last 5 years.

To answer “Yes” to 1b, local planning authorities must, where appropriate to their planning functions, already have adopted one or more local plans or unitary development plans covering the whole of their area, and already have an adopted structure plan and adopted minerals and waste local plans

On 31st March, did all your adopted development plans contain a comprehensive set of indicators and targets and, for plans adopted by the beginning of the financial year, have you monitored your performance against these? Local planning authorities which have not adopted all the development plans relevant to their authority will need to answer “No” to this question.

For the purposes of this question—

“development plans” include all the plans which are the responsibility of the authority. In the case of a county council, development plan includes any structure plan, minerals local plan and waste local plan; and

“comprehensive” means that there must be indicators and targets associated with all the main policy areas in the plan.

Has all supplementary planning guidance (including planning briefs) produced and adopted by you during the financial year followed the guidance given in paragraphs 3.15–3.18 of the DETR Planning Policy Guidance Note 12, “Development Plans”(6), in particular the need for supplementary planning guidance to be linked and cross-referenced to an adopted plan policy and for adequate consultation before it is finalised?

For the purposes of this question, if no supplementary planning guidance is produced, then the answer to this question should be “not applicable”.

During the financial year, have you provided for pre-application discussions with potential applicants on request?

On 31st March, did you have a published charter which set targets for handling the different stages of the development control process (including enforcement and compliance) and arrangements for monitoring your performance against these targets?

For the purposes of this question, the charter will be expected to address the following stages in the development control process: registration of the application; consultation on applications; response times in relation to correspondence; the issuing of the decision letter following the council’s decision; the response times to requests for enforcement action; and the checking of compliance with planning decisions including conditions.

Is the percentage of appeals where the council’s decision has been overturned lower than 40%?

For the purposes of this question, the denominator should include all appeal decisions reported to the authority by the Planning Inspectorate during the financial year including enforcement appeals, listed buildings and conservation area consent appeals and advertisement appeals. Appeals should only be counted if the date of the Planning Inspectorate’s or the Secretary of State’s decision was during the year in question, regardless of when the appeal was lodged. The numerator should consist of those appeal decisions where the appeal was allowed or, in the case of enforcement appeals, where the notice was quashed or modified.

During the financial year, has your authority delegated 70% or more of its applications to officers?

For authorities other than county councils but including unitary authorities, the percentage for the purposes of this question is to be calcualted using the information needed for the completion of the PSI Return(7).

The percentage is the total figure for the financial year using the information needed for Q3 as a percentage of the information needed for Q2 of the PSI Return. For National Park authorities the figures are for the National Park as a whole.

During that financial year, have you run your planning service in such a way that—

For the purposes of this question, the term “maladministration” shall have the same meaning as indicator numbered 5 of Schedule 1 to this Order.

During the financial year, has your authority operated a one stop shop service which includes the following characteristics—

For the purposes of this question, authorities shall use the information in the DETR publication entitled “The One Stop Shop Approach to Development Consents”(9).

During the financial year, have you implemented a policy for ensuring that different groups have equal access to the planning process including, as necessary, the provision of advice in ethnic minority languages and in Braille/on tape based on consultation with relevant members of the community about the accessibility of the planning service, and do you have arrangements for keeping this policy under review?

For the purposes of this question, authorities are to consider how accessible the service they provide is to different groups in the population such as ethnic minorities, religious groups, elderly and disabled people and disadvantaged and deprived people in inner urban areas.