Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 Submission to the Secretary of State of the first Annual Monitoring Report which covers the period 1st April 2004 - 31st March 2005. The Annual Monitoring Report reviews progress of the Local Development Scheme and the implementation of planning policies.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 The 2004 to 2005 Annual Monitoring Report (attached as Appendix 1) is approved for submission to the Secretary of State.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 The preparation of an Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) and its submission to the Secretary of State is a new statutory requirement. Meeting this requirement satisfactorily influences the amount of Planning Delivery Grant awarded to the Council. As such its preparation and submission has direct financial implications.

3.2 The 2004 to 2005 AMR has been prepared using existing resources which are accounted for within existing budgets. However, it should be noted that future AMRs will need to be broader in scope. This will require improvement of the Council's monitoring systems which may have future resource implications. The impacts of this will be taken into account in Service planning and will need to be considered as part of the financial planning process later in the year.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires the submission of an Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) to the Secretary of State each December. The AMR sets out progress on preparation of documents in the Local Development Scheme (LDS) and also the extent to which planning policies are being effectively implemented. It will indicate whether a review of the LDS is necessary and whether planning policies need to be revised.

4.2 As this is a new requirement the Government accepts that the first AMR will be limited in scope. The first AMR, which relates to the 2004 to 2005 period and is attached as Appendix 1, focuses on the progress of the LDS and on the contextual and national output indicators recommended in Government guidance. The Government Office for the South West has been consulted during the preparation of the first AMR and has indicated that its scope, content and structure are appropriate.

4.3 Future AMRs will need to become broader in scope in order to help provide the more comprehensive evidence base necessary to address the 'spatial planning' agenda set by the Government. The AMR will also facilitate closer integration between planning policy formulation and the Community Strategy.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

6 RATIONALE

6.1 The Council is statutorily required to prepare an AMR and to submit it to the Secretary of State by 31st December 2005. Its satisfactory submission influences the award of Planning Delivery Grant to the Council.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 Preparation of the AMR and its timetable for submission to the Secretary of State is a statutory requirement. Therefore, alternative options have not been considered.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 The process of preparing the AMR has involved consultation with and input from a number of Services within the Council as well as close liaison with external stakeholders, primarily the Government Office for the South West, the Regional Assembly and the West of England Joint Strategic Planning and Transportation. Consultation does not take place on the AMR, however, once submitted to the Secretary of State it will be made publicly available.

9 REASONS FOR URGENCY

9.1 Not urgent.