« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Application form
Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 29 August 2007. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.
1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.
2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.
3 Tick one nomination category
Title of entry | Trunk Road Consultation |
Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary 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. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.
The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:
You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.
Description of project
Transport Scotland Trunk Road Network Management (an agency of the Scottish Executive) ( TS - TRNMD) started this project while still part of the Scottish Executive. At the time there were concerns with the time taken to deal with responses and the quality of the responses. It was also evident while dealing with submitted applications that there was a basic lack of understanding of the needs of the Trunk Road network from both applicants and the local planning authorities. The project has been developed to address these key points and improve external understanding of the needs of Transport Scotland as the Trunk Road Authority, at the same time to assess how consultation responses were dealt with the aim of improving the overall response time and the quality and detail in the response |
Describe the background to the project
As a statutory consultee TS has approximately 1400 applications referred per annum. Unlike other organisations TS does not have staff available at locations throughout Scotland to deal with the consultation process. This has to be carried out by proxy, using the four Operating Companies, with the consequent communication problems this entails. The project was to develop a partnership and using the combined knowledge and experience to improve how application responses are managed and raise the quality and speed of the responses. In addition in order to improve the level of understanding of the differing functions carried out by the Trunk Road it was intended to use the same experience and knowledge to promote the understanding of the role of the Trunk Road and highlight the range to all stakeholders including the public, applicants and the local planning authorities. |
What are the aims and objectives of the project?
The aims of the project are to improve the quality of the responses which are made by TS to statutory consultation; the speed of the responses; raise awareness of the role of the Trunk Road; and highlight the needs of TS in dealing with the varying functions of the Trunk Road. This was to be achieved by means of different improvement themes to produce four main objectives: Improve quality and response times for returns Improve quality of submissions Inform Developers and their Consultants of our approach to Development Management Develop closer relationships with local authority planners
By meeting these objectives the aims of the project would be achieved. |
Over what timescale has the project been developed?
The whole project has been underway for just over two years with the four different objectives, highlighted above, being covered in different stages. The first two elements commenced at the start of the project with a quicker return being seen on the first aspect. Given that the second and third elements involved the preparation of documents this took longer for the benefits to be experienced with the last document being completed earlier this year. The final element followed on from the first as the benefits of the measures implemented at stage one began to be felt. While significant improvements have been made, due to the nature of the aims and objectives which were set, the project in many respects will never end with new improvements in the next stage already being developed. |
Explain the process and action taken
The role of responding as Statutory Consultees was centralised to provide a consistent response and allow easier communication for all parties including the operating companies, local planners and the public. The role of the operating companies was reviewed and clarified by different means with additional advice provided by TS both to assist in the process and also to train staff. This would ensure that the quality of the response improved along with the improving the response times. A number of publications have been produced, and seminars organised, to provide advice on Transport Assessments and general Development Management in association with additional information being available on the website. Relationships have been developed with the local planners and in more remote areas surgeries have been established to allow TS staff to meet on a regular basis to discuss difficult applications on a face to face basis. |
Explain the role of the key partners
As the Term Consultant already in place to audit large applications, JMP were given a new role in the partnership which has been developed with TS. Additional staff were provided to take over a function which was previously carried out on an ad-hoc basis by Route Managers, for which development management was a minor part of the extensive number of tasks which they had to carry out. JMP have provided a level of consistency and developed an excellent working relationship with the operating companies and the local planning authorities. Working together additional advice has been prepared and then made available by means of publications and seminars as well as providing additional information on the TS website. |
What results were achieved?
There have been a number of improvements noted with the key performance indicator showing a substantial improvement from about 65% of the responses being made within 14 days at the start of the project to the current response rate of just over 91% being returned within 14 days and the remainder generally taking longer due to the need to carry out additional checks, the complexity of the proposals or insufficient information being supplied. The additional information supplied in publications and on the website has suggested the benefits of pre-consultation and the level of contact prior to applications being submitted has increased nearly twenty fold. The quality of the application submissions has generally improved as a result. Courses for both the operating companies, applicants and their agents have been very successful and there have been extremely high levels of positive feedback. |
In summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?
The project has successfully developed and integrated a number of small elements of work to contribute towards a significant improvement in the level of service provided by TS. These service level improvements have been achieved through all aspects of the planning process from pre-planning to appeals. The delivered benefits have improved the detail, quality and the speed of the response to the local planning authorities and by means of the additional information and pre-planning discussions have also improved the overall quality of the submissions from the applicants and their agents. Amongst other key indicators the benefits are clear not least in terms of response times |
Date
« Previous | Contents | Next »