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Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning 2003

Application form

This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically (pdf version) on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning . Please complete all four questions. The deadline is 12 September 2003. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.

Please provide a name and contact details of the organisation responsible for this work. If partners were involved, identify the lead organisation, and then list the other partners/bodies who had a key role.

Name of key partners (if appropriate)

Please complete the form by providing a brief summary (in no more than the space provided) of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude, with a key reason, as to why you think this work merits an Award.

Please tick the key criteria which relate to this entry:

You must describe in your written submission (below) how the criteria which you have ticked relates to your project.

Description of project

The project evolved to address a problem which had been identified from customer feedback (as detailed in the Context section). A multi-disciplinary task force, led by development control, was set up in April 2002 to determine a means to make the development control process more inclusive with the business community. The task force consisted of representatives of development control, building control, environmental health, transportation and roads, economic development and property sections of Aberdeenshire Council.

Research showed that there were not any Authorities in the UK which had promoted a comprehensive approach to providing a service specifically geared to the needs of the business community other than one or two simple business guides to development control. A comprehensive outcome of the type envisaged would therefore be innovative.

The task force considered its brief from the viewpoint of business and endeavoured to understand why business perceived the development control process in a negative way and evolved and implemented distinct solutions to the individual problems identified. The project was wholly management inspired and driven. The solution was to develop a comprehensive "Advice to Business" pack including a plain language specific business application form. Plain language guidance booklets on development (and building) control as well as guidance leaflets on the other council services impacting on business applications are also provided in the pack. The creation of "Business Champions" - key members of staff specially trained and empowered to guide businesses through the development control process is the other key element of the business friendly project. The advice pack contains a number of bookmarks, which can be updated as staff change, giving contact details for each of the Business Champions. The Champions do not necessarily give priority to business applications, but they are there to monitor progress and chase solutions where necessary and to be a contact reference and source of information and specific professional advice to businesses.

Timescale (over which the project has developed)

The initiative towards evolving a soluUon to the identified customer concerns began in April 2002. The task force met approximately monthly intervals and steered the formulation of effective business solutions over a period of approximately eight months. Individual members of the group managed the production of the guidance leaflets, the special business application form and the training of staff. Specialist staff developed the graphic style and supervised the printing. The task force also managed product testing with six representative groups of the business community. The initiative was formally launched on 24 January 2003 - a total timescale of 9 months from inception to completion.

Context (the problem which had to be addressed)

Aberdeenshire Council continually seeks feedback, both negative and positive from its wide range of development control customers. This is in line with its Best Value regime, the information so received being central to an understanding of customers aspirations which drives forward continuous service improvement. The development control service became aware through such feedback from the business community that there was a strong perception that the system was characterised by bureaucracy, inherent delay, "red tape", a lack of understanding of the constraints facing business, especially start-ups and a failure to understand the importance of the contribution of the business sector to the local economy.

Action taken

This followed directly from management consideration of the various individual problems faced by business during the preparation, submission, consideration and determination of a typical business planning application. Such as by complicated forms which had to be completed in quadruplicate and difficult procedures such as calculation of fees and notification of neighbours. Difficulty in understanding the involvement of other council services was also stated by businesses to be a problem. The development control service had previously achieved excellent feedback and success from its earlier initiative to make the process easier for householders and applied this experience in to the business friendly initiative.

The outcome of the initiative is a comprehensive one, but encompassed in two integrated parts - an advicel application pack and an assistance/information network staffed by key personnel - Business Champions. The Advice for Business pack, also available on disk and on the Council's website contains everything a business applicant might need in plain language. The Business Champions are specially trained to assist and advise business applications and to help progress business applications.

Results achieved

Business friendly development control has been very well received by the business community at its launch but also in the succeeding months since its implementation. This is based only on anecdotal evidence so far, but empirical evidence will follow from continuous customer feedback achieved from exit surveying of all customers which is to be introduced shortly as part of our Best Value Review bid for the Charter Mark award.

Conclusion - Why does this piece of work merit an Award?

This initiative explicitly meets many of the judging criteria:

• Professional knowledge has been applied in the recognition that a problem existed and in the content of the solution. The business pack is based firmly on professional knowledge of the subject area.
• Management skill and innovation has been central to successfully driving this project forward from consideration of the essential nature of the problem to devising potential solutions and to evolving a strategy to target resources effectively to overcome the problems as perceived by businesses.
• Innovation. Aberdeenshire Council is not aware of any other such comprehensive approach to assisting businesses through the development control process.
• Community interest. The initiative is wholly targetted to addressing the expressed needs of the community, albeit one section of the community.
• Customer satisfaction has been marked, not only in the enthusiastic response to the launch by the local press and the business sector but also by applicants delighted to receive "special" treatment. Aberdeenshire Council is confident that these positive responses will be borne out by planned market research.

Date

11 September 2003

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