Paying for enforcement

Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Open group | Started - July 2012 | Last activity - This week

Richard Crawley, modified 10 Years ago.

Paying for enforcement

Expert Posts: 254 Join Date: 07/12/11 Recent Posts

On my way in to work this morning I had an idea about how to pay for (or more correctly subsidise) the costs of an enforcement service.

I've posted it up on the unofficial blog in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way. In part it's a response to a challenge to not be scared of rethinking public services.

What thoughts have you had about trying to avoid wholesale destruction of enforcement ? I'd imagine that some of the teams are small enough that a 40% cut means you won't have enough resources to provide any service on some days in the year.

enforcement sponsorship

Former Member, modified 10 Years ago.

Paying for enforcement

I expect several have thought of similar schemes but as there is no requirement on the owner to make an application, and in many cases it would not be expedient to take action, or would not be cost-effecctive given the costs to the authority of drafting and serving a notice etc., compared to the fee received, has not been taken further even if resources permitted.

So all those satellite dishes, garden sheds and other minor works slip in under the radar.

You also have to consider the political element - can you imagine the number of complaints regarding an over-officious authority. Look at the furore over parking charges, even though if people parked correctly they wouldn't get a ticket anyway.

Former Member, modified 9 Years ago.

RE: Paying for enforcement

This has recently come on our agenda, driven by a recovering costs agenda, and the stat that we get a fee for a retrospective playing application that follows an enforcement investigation that finds a breech in only 10% of cases.

We accept that we can't require an application, and I seem to recall discussions in the past to make all planning breeches an offence were abandoned because the 'pd' and 'what is development' rules are so complex, which would support the 'we can only advise that an application is made' approach.

So, my question was to ask wither this 10% stat was comparable to others experiences?

Thanks