Business and Corporate Plan 2003-2004
Chief Executive’s Introduction
New directions for The Planning Inspectorate
It gives me great pleasure to present my first Business and Corporate
Plan for the Planning Inspectorate since I took up my post as Chief Executive
on 1st January 2003.
Much has been achieved by the Planning Inspectorate in recent years by a committed, excellent and dedicated staff of Inspectors and Administrators alike.The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill, currently wending its way through Parliament, together with the Communities Plan launched by the Deputy Prime Minister in February, puts the Inspectorate firmly in the spotlight as a key player in delivering planning reform.
2002-03 saw an unprecedented rise in the number of appeals lodged – equating to an overall increase in workload of 10%. Innovative working practices were introduced to keep pace with the workload and we are continuing to improve our working practices to work more smartly and more swiftly.We also launched the Planning Portal and made substantial progress with the development of the Planning Casework Service (PCS), the new means to allow full electronic working with our customers and in the Inspectorate.
The commitment to planning reform gives us an even greater opportunity for innovation.The goal, for us, is to improve the quality of our product by insisting on the best; the best planning guidance that can possibly be produced, reflected in future Local Development Plan Frameworks which have the best possible commitment from (and credibility to) local communities because of the way stakeholders have been engaged in the process. Such a transformed development plan – led landscape will translate into quality decisions by individual Inspectors on appeals who will be able to provide certainty and consistency in the development process.
All of this requires effort; through partnership working, trust and confidence with everyone playing their part to the best of their ability.This plan should be viewed as a transition document. We will be gearing up to meet increased workloads and the impact of planning reform, for which we will be introducing the concept of active case management and team working. We will also be working towards greater openness – and will welcome dialogue with all interested parties about how this will be achieved.
We will also be making full use of the end to end review of the appeals
process to explore every avenue that will lead to a better understanding
of the underlying trends and issues in the development process. Our aim
will be to find creative solutions to achieve innovative outcomes for
the Inspectorate as a whole, creating the right support for our individual,
independent Inspectors to provide quality, consistency, certainty and
clarity
to local communities and developers through the appeal decisions they
make.
I look forward to the challenge.
Katrine Sporle
Chief Executive
