Agenda item

Members to receive and consider witness evidence in relation to this review.

Mr Chris Swinn addressed the Committee advising Councillors of his concerns regarding the governance arrangements for WNDC.  He was particularly concerned that Councillors, who are no longer elected Members, are still members of the Board to WNDC.  He concluded by expressing his concerns regarding less frequent Board meetings.

 

Mr Swinn was thanked for his address.

 

The Chair reminded Councillors that this item had been part of the Committee’s Work Programme for some time and that it had been agreed that the whole Committee would carry out the Review rather than set up a Task and Finish Group to carry out the work.  The need for the Review had arisen from the previous work of this Committee, in particular the Historic Buildings Task and Finish Group that had looked at the proposed Needles sculpture as well as historic building protection and WNDC’s role, and also monitoring of Planning Performance Indicators.  Past work had suggested a Review into WNDC’s performance and how it works with NBC would be beneficial to both organisations.

 

The objective of this Review is to establish how well WNDC is performing and how well Northampton Borough Council and WNDC are working together in Partnership to deliver the regeneration, planning and growth objectives for the town.

 

The Chair advised that many witnesses had been contacted to provide evidence, either written or oral, but some of the evidence was still awaited, therefore, there was the need for a further meeting to consider this.  The additional meeting would be dedicated purely to evidence gathering for this Review.

 

Councillor Richard Church, Portfolio Holder, addressed the Committee.  A copy of Councillor Church’s written response to the Committee’s core questions is attached to the minutes.

 

Supplementary questions were put to Councillor Church:

 

Councillor Church advised that he felt that the Council should support West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) in its lobbying for adequate funding.

 

 

 

QUESTION (Q)

 

Q            If WNDC did not receive adequate funding, what would the impact be on its partners regarding the delivery of various projects?

 

Response:

 

There is no impact on partnership working at present but it could have an impact over time on key project delivery and could lead to houses being built and the infrastructure following on.

 

Q            Overview and Scrutiny needs to be clear of the problems that are in existence

 

Response:

 

The main issue is to improve on the arrangements currently in place.

 

Q            Are there any formal documents in place to support the Partnership arrangement, such as a Memorandum of Understanding?

 

Response:

 

I am not aware of any such document in existence; however, discussions are taking place regarding the establishment of a Joint Arrangement Protocol.

 

Q            Is it correct that WNDC does not reject a planning application but defers consideration to the next meeting?  Does WNDC have the powers to reject a planning application?

 

Response:

 

If WNDC’s Planning Officers make a recommendation to WNDC’s Planning Committee that a planning application is approved, but the Committee is minded to reject the application, consideration of that item is deferred to the next meeting. The reasoning behind this is to provide an opportunity for the reasons for refusal to be drawn up.

 

Q            Should the Borough Council’s Planning Committee reject a planning application, reasons for rejection are provided at the meeting that rejects the planning application.  Do Members of WNDC’s Planning Committee receive the same training to that of the Borough’s Planning Committee?

 

Response:

 

Members of WNDC’s Planning Committee are required to go through the same training process to that of the Borough Council’s Planning Committee.

 

Q            Since the conception of WNDC’s Planning Committee, NBC’s Planning Committee has been a consultee for planning applications.  Often NBC’s Planning Committee has responded commenting that it has no objections, subject to certain clauses being implemented.  Around five of which have been presented to WNDC’s Planning Committee by its Planning Officers that Northampton Borough Council has no objections.  Could this be considered as ultra vires?

 

Response

 

I would expect the views of NBC’s Planning Committee to be fully reported to WNDC’s Planning Committee and if the process reported above is the process followed I would not support this. 

 

The Chair suggested that advise on this issue be sought from a Planning

Lawyer.                                                                                                           Action Point

 

 

 

Q            One of NBC’s nominations to WNDC’s Board is no longer an elected Member but he still sits on the Board representing the Borough Council.

 

Response:

 

WNDC Board members are appointed on a three-yearly basis.  If they cease to be an elected Member during that time they continue to sit on the Board until the end of term.  Although the representative is nominated by NBC he does not represent the Borough Council.

 

Councillor Tony Woods is also a Member of WNDC’s Board and he keeps Councillors informed of WNDC Board issues by presenting reports to Full Council on a regular basis.

 

Q            Why do you have to sit on WNDC’s Daventry Planning Committee and the Leader sits on Towcester’s.  Why cant you both sit on WNDC’s Northampton Planning Committee?

 

Response:

 

I was asked to resign as a member of Northampton area Planning Committee when I was appointed to WNDC’s board.

 

This question regarding process should be directed to WNDC.

 

 

 

 

 

Q            Is WNDC now fully engaged with NBC?

 

Response:

 

WNDC is more engaged with NBC than it was.  At various levels, there is good partnership working with Officers but there is still room for improvement.

 

Q            Regarding funding for WNDC, is it possible to benchmark against other Local Development Corporations and provide details to the next meeting of this Committee?

 

Response:

 

NBC Officers should be able to provide this information to the Committee.

ACTION POINT

 

Q            Could the attendance figures of the Market Square Steering Group be provided to the Committee?

 

Response:

 

NBC Officers should be able to provide this information to the Committee.  

                                                                                       ACTION

POINT

 

Councillor Richard Church was thanked for his address.

 

The Chair suggested that following Councillor Richard Church’s evidence

that as Mr Lee Barron was nominated to the WNDC Board by NBC’s

he should be asked to provide evidence to the next meeting.               ACTION POINT

 

From the evidence gathering process with the Portfolio Holder, the Committee suggested the following potential recommendations for inclusion in its report:

 

Potential Recommendation:  If Councillors are nominated to WNDC’s Board and cease to become an elected Member during that time, a Protocol should be in place that requires them to step down.

 

Potential Recommendation: NBC Councillors should be able to sit on WNDC’s Northampton Planning Committee rather than have to travel outside the Borough to Planning Committees of Daventry and South Northants.

 

David Kennedy, Chief Executive, Northampton Borough Council, addressed the Committee.  A copy of David Kennedy’s written response to the Committee’s core questions is attached to the minutes.

 

David Kennedy elaborated upon his responses to the Committee’s core questions, emphasising that it was important that Northampton Borough Council (NBC) works with West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC).  He also reminded the Committee of the role of WNDC.

 

The Committee put supplementary questions to David Kennedy.

 

QUESTION (Q)What are the issues between WNDC and NBC around local   accountability?

 

Response:

 

Local accountability is not very strong.  Under current legislation there is no option to introduce more local democratic accountability.  Targets need to be set for elected Agencies working with WNDC.  A good example of joint working was the St John’s area master planning.  NBC engaged both Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) and WNDC.    Staff at NBC will continue to forge strong relationships with WNDC for the future.

 

Q            Is there a Consultation Protocol in place?

 

Response;

 

At this stage relationships are being built upon.  There is no written Consultation Protocol at present.

 

Q            Part of your written response to one of the core questions (What Could Northampton Borough Council do to help WNDC improve its performance?) appeared rather negative: -

 

The Council can help WNDC by providing support to WNDC in pressing Government and other Agencies to act in a way that supports the sustainability of growth.  For instance, if WNDC needs to lobby to get the right infrastructure improvements then NBC could assist, as could other local authorities. However, for this to be effective then WNDC must also be willing to share these issues with the Council and engage this and other Councils in a transparent and supportive partnership.

 

Response:

 

There are times when WNDC could be more open with the Council.

 

Q            Are you satisfied that there are no conflicting commercial interests?

 

Response:

 

It is possible for this to occur but I have not experienced it to date.  There are potential tensions between the agenda.

 

Q            Planning is a complicated system.  For example, should a developer want to set up a business, they would have, in planning terms, the difficulty of a two tier authority – NCC and NBC, then WNDC and its respective Planning Committees, giving a total of around six Committees to go through.  If you were a developer would you go through this process?

 

Response:

 

I am not a developer.  The system is complicated.  The Borough Council has not designed how Government works.  It is the developer’s responsibility to acquire help through the process.

 

Q            With the `credit crunch’ and the roof tax of £25,000 per property, will developers still build in Northampton?

 

Response:

 

The roof tax in Milton Keynes has not prohibited development.

 

WNDC has calculated that £38,000 would be required per property to invest in the infrastructure.

 

The S106 agreement has to be debated  – what are the correct channels through the taxpayer or the developer? This is a huge issue that needs to be debated nationally.  However, if funding were not available for the infrastructure in Northampton, there would become a point when there were no new housing developments in the borough.

 

Q            A letter from Rt. Hon. Caroline Flint, MP. regarding WNDC, comments that the organisation was established as an Urban Development Corporation in 2004 as the most appropriate model of delivery vehicle to respond to the significant and complex challenges in West Northamptonshire. It received its strategic planning powers in April 2006 and subsequently development control for Northampton was brought in-house in January 2007 due to a failing planning service in NBC.

 

               Government will soon be undertaking a review of WNDC and therefore it could provide an opportunity for this Authority to inform Government that the system will only work properly if there is more joined up thinking and action with a strong democratic process.  This Council should take part in Government’s review.

 

Response:

 

Government will ask this Council and other local authorities for their views on WNDC and how it can be improved.  If WNDC was not in existence, another such organisation would be needed, wider than NBC.  If WNDC was to change there would be a need to ensure that any changes would improve the process.

 

WNDC was created under an Order signed on 4 May 2004. On 3 March 2006 a further Order made WNDC the Planning Authority for a range of matters in West Northamptonshire.  In Northampton this included significant planning powers across the whole Borough.  The Order does not give a reason for this.

 

Mr Kennedy emphasised that Northampton will be bigger than Derby before too long.

 

Q         What could NBC do to make this power better, for example, merge development control powers?

 

Response:

 

A joint Development Control Unit would be a muddle, but could be reviewed, however, caution should be expressed.  A simpler solution could be for WNDC to sub-contact development control work to NBC.

 

It would be highly unlikely for there to be any shift of powers before the Government’s review of WNDC, if at all.

 

When NBC’s Planning Officers are consulted by WNDC, they respond on behalf of the Council.

 

Q            When looking at growth in Northampton, the cost of delivering houses must be the highest in the country per dwelling.  This question will be put to NBC’s Planning Services.  A response to the Committee’s core questions from Planning Services is also required.

 

David Kennedy was thanked for his address.

 

Chris Cavanagh, Corporate Manager (Regeneration and Growth), addressed the Committee.  A copy of Chris Cavanagh’s written response to the Committee’s core questions is attached to the minutes.

 

Supplementary questions were put to Chris Cavanagh:

 

QUESTION (Q)

 

Do you have evidence to indicate that West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) is not receiving the funding it needs?  Is there anything this can be benchmarked against?

 

Response:

 

Mr Cavanagh commented that he thought WNDC was genuinely under-funded given the wide scope of its remit.

 

He drew parallels with other organisations including former Urban Development Corporations (UDC’s).  The Growth Agenda requires significant financial pump priming in order for it to be delivered.

 

Information should be publicly available to be used as comparators.  Mr Cavanagh said that he would expect CLG to have this information but also undertook to apply some limited resource to collect some information for the Committee.   He will report on progress at the next meeting.      ACTION POINT

  

Q      Is there a lack of integration?

 

Response: 

 

There has been some good partnership working between Northampton Borough Council (NBC) and WNDC, where resources and information has been shared.  Progress is being made and there is evidence to suggest more positive partnership working in the future.

 

NBC has successfully led the St Johns master-planning project, and achieved cost savings in developing strategic plans.  Whilst initially difficult, there has been good partnership on this project together with Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) and the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA).

WNDC has led and took forward much work on the Dallington Grange master-planning.   NBC did not initially have sufficient resources although over the past nine months NBC and WNDC have worked more closely and successfully together on helping to bring this project forward.

 

A key issue between the respective organisations is in respect to their priorities.  WNDC has formulated its priorities whilst NBC has already formed its view on its priorities, although helpfully there is overlap.  Given the scale of the task, there have been fairly scant resources available at both NBC and WNDC.  If priorities are different there will clearly be problems in achieving each other’s goals.

 

Mr Cavanagh’s view was that WNDC should be working with local authorities in respect of bringing forward jointly owned priorities.

 

Q      Are there adequate WNDC resources in place to address strategic infrastructure services?

 

Response: 

 

This is seen as a priority and recently WNDC have appointed a Director responsible for infrastructure led regeneration.  This might have been addressed earlier.

 

Q      Do WNDC concentrate on development control rather than on regeneration and growth?

 

Response:  

 

Whilst development control plays a key part in delivery of regeneration and growth, the facilitation of the growth agenda is primarily for land assembly and infrastructure delivery.  Development control services would then follow to assist delivery. 

 

Q      There appears to be an inconsistent approach by WNDC to partnership working with a random public consultation ?

 

Response: 

 

The source of problems and issues are well discussed between partners at a service delivery level.  NBC Officers have a programme led consultation, which is project management driven.

 

 

Q      With reference to the Rt. Hon. Caroline Flint, MP’s letter that states that “….. subsequently development control for Northampton was brought in-house in January 2007 due to a failing planning service in Northampton Borough Council”, what are your views?

 

Response: 

 

I am not aware of this letter, and have not seen it previously.  I am not aware of the reasoning behind this statement.  It is fact that NBCs Planning Service was not performing well enough.  However, the decision to provide a separate Development Control Service within WNDC has, in my opinion, made matters worse overall. My view is that a Partnership approach whereby WNDC helps strengthen the Local Authority services would have been a better overall approach.

 

Q      Is there a lack of expertise in the Development Control Team at WNDC?

 

Response:  I am not aware of any such weakness.

 

Q            What could NBC do to help WNDC do to improve its performance regarding development control?

 

Response:  

 

Mr Cavanagh referred to his written evidence with proposed suggestions.  He referred to intervention levels for NBC and WNDC and suggested that these could be changed to help NBC deal with larger applications and to help WNDC focus more on infrastructure and land assembly issues. 

 

Initially, NBC could ensure that it has sufficient resources to appoint appropriately qualified professionals to enable effective partnership working to focus on developing plans more quickly and project delivery.  WNDC has focussed resources mainly on setting up an in-house Development Control Team and their resources to address infrastructure and development have been strengthened but only fairly recently.

 

Q      WNDC’s aim is to deliver 47,000 new houses over a ten-year period.  This equates to around 5,000 dwellings per year. The new delivery target for 2008/09 is over 11,000 houses and over 200,000m2 of commercial floor space.  Is this achievable given the `credit crunch’?

 

Response: 

 

Mr Cavanagh said that this would appear to be an ‘ambitious’ target, but he would not criticise WNDC for being ambitious.

 

Ruth Austen, Senior Environmental Health Officer, addressed the Committee.  A copy of Ruth Austen’s written response to the Committee’s core questions is attached to the minutes.

 

Supplementary questions were put to Ruth Austen:

 

Question (Q):  Northampton Borough Council (NBC)’s Planning Committee is consulted by West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC)’s Planning Committee on planning applications. Often the Committee responds that it has no objections, subject to certain conditions being implemented.  If you found out that these conditions had not been adhered to, would you object?

 

Response:

 

Potentially yes.

 

Q            Is it a burden that a Service Agreement has not as yet been agreed for work that NBC undertakes on behalf of WNDC?

  

Response:

 

There is a level of uncertainty.  It is not causing any major problems at the moment but it could make it difficult to plan for the future.

 

Q            What format do you receive feedback from WNDC?

 

Response:

 

Environmental Services are not informed whether conditions to a planning application suggested by NBC have been implemented.  This can cause problems, for example, should there be a nuisance problem.  It would be beneficial to receive written details from WNDC stating whether conditions to a planning application have been implemented.

 

Q            What is the level of partnership working with WNDC?

 

Response:

 

WNDC is good at signposting people to NBC, for example, contaminated land requirements at the pre-application stage.

 

On a wider scale, NBC’s input is somewhat limited.

 

Q            Is there uncertainty regarding how long the consultancy work that NBC provide to WNDC will continue?

 

Response:

 

Environmental Services is not sure whether this will be a long-term agreement and will continue once the `debt’ has been paid.  It could potentially continue for another two years, however, there is a need for this to be clarified.

 

Ruth Austen was thanked for her address.

 

Following the witness submissions the Committee further realised the need for another meeting that would be solely dedicated to further witness evidence.  Further witness evidence would include:-

 

·        NBC nominated members to WNDC – Mr Lee Barron and Councillor Tony Woods

·        Councillor Jane Hollis, Chair, NBC’s Planning Committee

·        Corporate Manager responsible for planning services

·        All NBC Councillors would be asked to provide comment.

 

The Committee would be asked to submit potential recommendations to Tracy Tiff, Overview and Scrutiny Officer.                                           ACTION POINT