Govt awards £9m planning dept boost
A total of eight North West local authorities claimed £92,300 each from the Development Management Fund to help power through housing applications.
Local authorities were eligible for an award from the Development Management Fund if they could prove they had both a high economic growth potential and a high number of major residential applications.
Ultimately 63 local authorities claimed a portion of the £9m pot, with Greater London Authority netting £3m to distribute to its boroughs. With the exception of GLA and Horsham, which secured £447,600, the councils were awarded £92,300.
The successful North West applicants were:
- Cumberland Council
- Liverpool City Council
- Manchester City Council
- Rochdale Council
- Salford Council
- Stockport Council
- Trafford Council
- Warrington Council
Councils had to file an expression of interest in the fund prior to 28 January to be considered for an award. The cash is due to be given out at the end of this month.
Government has paid special attention to the planning system as it seeks to meet its goal to enable the delivery of 1.5m homes during this Parliament. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook announced updates to the local plan process and a recruitment drive for planning inspectors last year, with chancellor Rachel Reeves committing £48m to recruit 350 planning officers during her Autumn Budget.
You can see the full list of successful Development Management Fund winners below
- Amber Valley
- Arun
- Barnsley
- Bedford
- Birmingham
- Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole
- City of Bristol
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridge
- Calderdale
- Canterbury
- Central Bedfordshire
- Charnwood
- Chichester
- Cornwall
- County Durham
- Cumberland
- Dacorum
- Doncaster
- Dorset
- East Cambridgeshire
- East Lindsey
- Fenland
- Greater London Authority
- Guildford
- Horsham
- Huntingdonshire
- Kirklees
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Medway
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- North Kesteven
- North Lincolnshire
- North West Leicestershire
- North Yorkshire
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland
- Nottingham
- Nuneaton and Bedworth
- Reading
- Redcar and Cleveland
- Rochdale
- Rushcliffe
- Salford
- Sheffield
- Solihull
- Somerset
- South Cambridgeshire
- South Norfolk
- South Oxfordshire
- St Albans
- Stockport
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Telford and Wrekin
- Trafford
- Warrington
- Welwyn Hatfield
- Wiltshire
- Wychavon
Hopefully decisions will be made within or before determination timeframes.
By Anonymous
Absolute madness for any council to have to bid for such a small amount of money. How are they going to spend this fortune? Hire one and a half officers?
By John
9 North West councils 5 in GM and 1 in LCR, couldn’t Wirral, Sefton, St Helens, or Knowsley show they had high economic growth potential, or is it maybe they were never in with a chance as other areas were going to get the nod even before applications were made, Liverpool being chosen in order to show the bias isn’t total.
By Anonymous
Absolutely agree more with John @11.43am, pathetic councils have to go with their begging bowls for £92k! With on costs like pensions etc will hardly pay for one planner for a year!
By J
Is this funding to cover the costs for recruiting new Council employed Planners or is it to pay for private external Planners that charge extortionate fees .At the present time local authority Planning and Building Control seem to outsource these inspectors.
By Paul griffiths