Constitution Part 5 - Planning Code of Practice

It is important to recognise that lobbying is a normal and perfectly proper part of the political process: those who may be affected by a planning decision will often seek to influence it through an approach to their Ward Member or to a Member of the Planning Committee.  

8.1 Elected Members need to take account of the general public’s (and the Ombudsman’s) expectation that a planning application and other applications will be processed and determined in a transparent, open and fair manner, in which Elected Members taking the decision will take account of all the evidence presented before arriving at a decision, and that to commit themselves one way or the other before hearing all the arguments and evidence makes them vulnerable to an accusation of partiality. The determination of a planning application is a formal administrative process involving rules of procedure, rights of appeal and an expectation that people will act reasonably and fairly, with the added possibility that an aggrieved party may seek Judicial Review of the way in which a decision has been arrived at, or complain to the Ombudsman on grounds of maladministration.; or to the Monitoring Officer that an Elected Member has breached the Code of Conduct.

8.2 An Elected Member who represents a ward affected by an application is in a difficult position if it is a controversial application around which a lot of lobbying takes place. If the Elected Member responds to lobbying by deciding publicly to support a particular outcome - even campaign actively for it – it will be very difficult for that Elected Member to argue convincingly when the Committee comes to take its decision that he/she has carefully weighed the evidence and arguments presented (perhaps in some respects for the first time) at Committee. Whilst in most circumstances this may not amount to a prejudicial or any pecuniary interest in terms of the Code of Conduct, the proper course of action for such a Elected Member would be to make an open declaration and not to vote. This can be seen, however, as a severe restriction on the Elected Member’s wish - duty even - to represent the views of the electorate. In most cases it should be possible for an Elected Member to listen to a particular body of opinion, without engaging in lobbying for a particular outcome, and wait until the Planning Committee, to hear all the evidence presented, before making a final decision.

8.3 It is very difficult to find a form of words which covers every nuance of these situations and which gets the balance right between the duty to be an active ward representative and  the ‘overriding duty as a Elected Member … to the whole local community’. However, the following guidance will be appropriate in most cases.

8.4 Elected Members who are lobbied on a planning matter before the Planning Committee:

• may listen to what is being said;
• may give procedural advice ie to write to the Director of Neighbourhoods and Regulatory Services, the name of the Case Officer, the deadline for comments, whether the application is to be determined by the Planning Committee or delegated to Officers how decisions are reached through Officer recommendation /Planning Committee;
• should refer the person and any relevant correspondence to the Case Officer, so that their views can be recorded and, where appropriate, summarised in or attached to the report to the Committee;
• should take great care about expressing an opinion which may be taken as indicating that they have already made up their mind on the issue before they have considered all the evidence and arguments;
• should make it clear that Elected Member will only be in a position to take a final decision after having heard all the relevant evidence and arguments at Committee;
• should not openly declare which way they intend to vote in advance of the relevant Committee meeting, or otherwise state a commitment to oppose or support the application;
• should not negotiate detailed planning matters with applicants, agents, objectors, etc;
• should pass relevant correspondence to the Case Officer prior to any Committee meeting;
• should report instances of significant, substantial or persistent lobbying to the Planning and Development Manager or the Director of Neighbourhoods and Regulatory Services.

8.5 Elected Members who have openly declared their voting intention in advance of the relevant Committee meeting should make an open declaration and leave the meeting, taking no part in debate or voting. 

8.6 To avoid impressions of improper influence which lobbying by Elected Members can create:

• Elected Members should in general avoid organising support for or opposition to a planning matter to be determined by the Borough Council, and should not lobby other Elected Members - such actions can easily be misunderstood by parties to the application and by the general public;
• Elected Members should not put pressure on Officers for a particular recommendation;
• Political group meetings should not be used to decide how Elected Members should vote on planning matters;
• Elected Members should not act as agents or advocates for planning applications or any other applications, enforcement cases or proposals to be determined by the Borough Council. Where an Elected Member is involved in a particular planning matter, she/he should take care not to appear to try to influence other Elected Members, and should declare an interest at the relevant Committee meeting.
• Whenever an Elected Member is approached or lobbied on any particular application Elected Members should consider distributing the draft letter attached as Appendix 3 which makes clear the neutral stance which Elected Members need to adopt to remain impartial pending consideration of all the material facts at the Committee meeting.
• If Elected Members attend private site meetings in their ward at the request of the applicant they should express no opinion on the merits of the application and should normally advise the applicant that the Elected Member may also speak to other interested parties including objectors, again, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the application prior to determination before Planning Committee.
• Elected Members should not normally undertake private site inspections in another Elected Member’s ward without prior notice to the Elected Ward Member. Again Elected Members should express no opinion on the merits of the application.