New figures show that Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council is one of the worst performing Planning Authorities in England.
Following the bombshell letter from the Housing Secretary, Dr Luke Evans MP asked for further information from the independent researchers at the House of Commons Library. Their report shows the Councils which the Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, wrote to were the worst 10 performing Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) in the country to warn that decision-making for non-major developments could be withdrawn.
Of the 329 total Local Planning Authorities in England, 315 are performing above the expected threshold of 70%. The average performance in the East Midlands for the 24 months up to December 2022 was 84.2%, which towers above the Borough Council’s 46.5%.
The Commons research states “On the speed of decision-making for non-major planning applications within statutory time limits (or an extended period agreed with the applicant), Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council had the lowest performance among all [329] LPAs in the 24 months to end of December 2022.”
On April 12th the Housing Secretary wrote to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council to warn that should performance not drastically improve to above the expected threshold of 70% the council would be at risk of designation. This letter was only made public one month later.
The letter stated that between October 2020 and September 2022, the Borough Council’s planning department performed at only 46.5% when handling non-major development decisions.
Of the 10 Local Planning Authorities which received warning letters, Hinckley and Bosworth had the lowest performance of all.
Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth, said “The local Liberal Democrat leadership is trying to have it both ways: on the one hand they blame the Government for a housebuilding target of 300,000 per year, but the Liberal Democrats own policy is to build 380,000 – 25% more!
“On the other hand, they blame country-wide pressures… yet when you look at local figures all other Leicestershire councils were performing well above the expected 70%. Lib Dem-run Oadby and Wigston are the second lowest performing LPA in Leicestershire, at 84%, yet their performance was far greater than Hinckley and Bosworth’s.
“Cllr Bray attempted to deflect by citing an array of issues when it is clear the responsibility lies with him. The figures don’t lie.
“I hope to see improvements, as does the Secretary of State. The staff in the department are working so hard to resolve the problems, but our community is being let down. I have written to the Council leader to offer help, and will be raising this issue in Parliament to see what can be done to support Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.”
