The Scottish Government

Name

Raymond Reid

Job title

Organisation

Aberdeenshire Council

Address

Viewmount, Arduthie Road, Stonehaven., Aberdeenshire AB39 2DQ

Telephone

01569 768301

Fax

01569 766549

Email

raymond.reid@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

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Development Plans Development Management Development on the Ground Community Involvement

Title of entry

Processing of Major Planning Applications

Professional knowledge Innovation Management Sustainable development

Partnership Community interest Regeneration Customer satisfaction

The Planning Section within Planning and Environmental Services of Aberdeenshire Council has implemented a new process aimed at improving stakeholder engagement prior to the submission of Major Planning Applications. This process was designed and implemented using the principles of Kaizen.

Aberdeenshire Council is committed to Kaizen, an approach, which leads to greater efficiency, consistency and the elimination of waste from process-based tasks leading to improved standards of customer service. Aberdeenshire is an exemplar of the Kaizen approach with many awards to its credit. The Kaizen process, which is "bottom up", encourages proactive solutions to issues where team members take ownership with full empowerment being given by management.

Whilst the main purpose of the initiative was to improve stakeholder engagement, it is expected ultimately that higher levels of performance in both statutory and internal performance indicators will be evident.

Two Area Planning Offices fulfilled the role of joint team leaders and led the project along with the other team members from within the Planning section and other Services of the Council, including the Law and Administration Service. The Kaizen approach produced a groundbreaking process in terms of stakeholder engagement and partnership working with Major Applications. The process also identified improvements to the processing of legal agreements required with many Major Applications. In line with all Kaizen initiatives in Aberdeenshire, the project itself was high profile achieving "buy-in" from all participants. A comprehensive public relations exercise, by way stakeholder meetings was undertaken involving applicants, agents and Councillors prior to the launch of the new process. In addition promotional material has been produced and is available at all Council offices.

It is recognized that delays in determining Major Applications are often caused by applicants or agents not being fully aware of the extent of the consultation required with both internal and external consultees as part of dealing with Major Planning Applications. Clearly if a new process could be designed to alert applicants/agents to the implications of their proposals in advance of formal submission it would demonstrate a greater degree of engagement, openness and transparency in dealing with applications from the Council's side and provide greater customer satisfaction. From the applicants/agents point of view, such a process would lead to a fuller appreciation of the extent of the input from consultees prior to determination. It was also felt that as an aside such a process would improve performance in determining 80% of such applications within 4 months. In considering the process improvements, regard was given to the Planning (S) Act 2006 and the need to pave the way for the implementation of the new statutory requirements. The outcome of the project is that a series of monthly pre-application meetings have been put in place. The dates of these meetings have been communicated and are set out until December 2008.

The Service Management set goals for the Kaizen project.

These were:

• To improve stakeholder engagement with the Service users.

• To improve our Performance Indicators for the 4 major categories of major planning applications to at least the Scottish National Average

• To anticipate the forthcoming Planning (Scotland) Act and to ensure that our procedures are fit for purpose

The Team revised these goals and devised the following Team Goals

• To provide an open communication process in order to improve the flow of information relative to the processing of major planning applications.

• To anticipate the forthcoming Planning (Scotland) Act and to ensure that our procedures will be fit for purpose.

• To produce a flexible process that will enable 80% of all major applications to be determined within 4 months or such other timescale as previously agreed with the applicant.

The initial scoping and research for the project took place in February 2006 through to April 2006. The Project commenced in earnest in May 2006 when the team embarked on an initial week long intensive and focused Kaizen session. Thereafter the team also embarked on engaging the local community through meeting a number of prominent agents. The Planning Service also engaged with a number of consultees (Scottish Water, SNH, SEPA as well as internal consultees) in order to ensure that the process had the support and backing of others. This was partnership working at its best.

Over the period from May 2006 to March 2007 the team met frequently to refine the process and prepared a number of documents, letters, protocols and commenced on updating the Planning and Environmental Services website. This culminated in a series of training sessions in March 2007. These included training sessions for all staff in Development Management as well as a session for a number of consultees (both internal and external) 40 of whom attended.

In April 2007 the Planning Section held its annual "Agents Forum" where the new process for dealing with Major Applications was presented. Two further sessions were held on 28 May 2007 with the local agents/applicants/legal advisors. This was attended by approximately 70 delegates and as a result of points being made by the delegates, the process was further refined. The Major Applications team also gave 2 presentations to the Elected Members of the Council in June 2007.

The process has involved the setting out of monthly meetings where applicants and agents for potential Major Applications can meet around the table with Planning staff and all the consultees who will have an input to the proposals. The applicant or agent completes the pre-submission form and the details are passed to all of the relevant consultees. The applicant and agent are then invited to attend at a prescribed time on the date of the pre-application meeting. A period of 50 minutes is allocated to each potential application. The chairman invites the applicant is to outline the proposals, the Planning case officer will summarise the Planning history of the site and one by one each of the consultees is invited to present their requirements. The applicant and agent are invited to ask any questions and as a conclusion the chairman sums up all of the issues that will need to be addressed as part of the determination of the application. The case officer then follows up the outcome by formally writing to the applicant or agent confirming all of the information that is needed and suggesting that the consultee requirements are addressed prior to formal application. The main advantage to this engagement process is that there will be no surprises for the applicant in advance of any formal submission and that he/she leaves the meeting knowing exactly what is required of them.

The key partners are as follows: -

The Planning section - Coordinates all of the pre-application meetings, circulates the documentation, invites the applicants, agents and consultees to the meeting.

Consultees - Appraise proposals in advance of the pre-application meeting, attend the meeting and make the applicant and agent aware of the information required.

The Case Officer - Outlines the Planning history, takes comprehensive notes of the input from all the stakeholders and communicates formally the meeting outcomes.

The Chairman - Chairs the meeting and verbally summarises the requirements for the applicant and agent.

The Applicant and Agent - Attend the meeting and become fully aware of the requirements of the case officer and all consultees.

To date 13 potential Major Applications have been appraised using this process and verbal feedback indicates that the project has been well received. The attendance has been considerable with approximately 90 % of consultees attending the first meeting. The feedback from prospective applicants has been anecdotally positive and the Planning Service has put in place a system for monitoring the success rate of the project.

This project merits an award because Aberdeenshire has invoked a level of stakeholder engagement well in excess of that which is required by statute. The process is robust yet flexible ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction. This process recognises the need to embrace the culture change sweeping through the Planning System and as the first of its kind in Scotland, will lead the way as a model for other Authorities to model themselves upon. This work has demonstrated that a new process has been developed using a "bottom-up" approach proving when management gives staff ownership and empowerment, workable solutions are found. This project demonstrates that management commitment and support can lead to new innovative ways of working.