Three councils surprised at Gove naming and shaming

Three Essex council leaders have expressed their surprise at their authorities being singled out for criticism by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove.

Mr Gove named Basildon, Castle Point and Uttlesford district councils as "under performers" in planning and warned he could intervene.

All three councils say local plans for housing development are being worked on.

Basildon and Castle Point last approved a local plan in 1998.

Basildon Council's Conservative leader Andrew Baggott said it was "a bit of posturing coming from government; they are desperate to get some credibility in certain areas".

"It’s very easy of him to say he’s going to give notice to a council, but it’s not as if we have had our heads in the sand," he said.

Basildon scrapped its last local plan in March 2022 which had been developed over many years by both Labour and previous Conservative-led administrations.

Work on a new draft local plan is under way. However, under the current timescale it is expected to go for consultation in autumn 2024 and eventually be adopted in 2027.

Mr Gove wrote to Basildon Council telling it that it had "a history of poor plan progress" and a "persistent failure to meet milestones".

The cabinet minister said the deadline for councils to submit their plans for new housing in their areas was 30 June 2025 and that, currently, Basildon was the only council in the country that did not "anticipate meeting the deadline".

Basildon's cabinet member for strategic planning, Conservative Richard Moore, said “it’s the government process that takes so long".

The government has instructed Basildon and six other English councils to "revise" the delivery time of their plans and update them within 12 weeks.

Michael Gove also wrote to Uttlesford saying it had "limited time" to produce a local plan and there had been "poor progress" over the last 19 years.

He ordered the council to provide an "up-to-date timetable".

Uttlesford's leader, Petrina Lees from the ruling Residents for Uttlesford group, said Mr Gove’s speech was "all very perplexing as his own department is fully aware that we published our draft local plan earlier this year" and she added they would meet the government's deadline.

Uttlesford had powers to make major planning decisions removed by the government in 2022.

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said at the time that the Saffron Walden-based council was not "adequately performing their function of determining applications for planning permission for major development".

Uttlesford's planning system is still in the equivalent of special measures where important decisions are made by the government's Planning Inspectorate.

House building and a contentious local plan led to local independent parties taking control of Castle Point Borough Council from the Conservatives in May 2022.

In June 2022, the authority followed Uttlesford and Basildon by withdrawing the local plan to start on a new one.

Dave Blackwell, Castle Point's leader, said "we had a policy to listen to residents and they don’t want their green fields destroyed".

He said "officers are confident we will be able to come up with a community local plan".

Mr Blackwell said the plans being developed would see about 100 new properties built every year. The previous local plan was for 355 new homes a year to 2035.

Mr Gove warned the councils that if they failed "I will consider further intervention to ensure that a plan is in place".

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