Leicestershire council warned about planning performance

A Leicestershire council has been told it must improve how it deals with planning applications or it will lose the power to decide where building can take place.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council was sent a letter of warning from the Secretary of State for Housing, Levelling Up and Communities.

The authority has a performance rate of 46.5% against a target of 70%.

It said this was due to the impacts of the pandemic and acute staff shortages.

The Liberal Democrat-run council was the worst performing of the 10 councils that were sent a warning letter from Michael Gove, according to the local Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans.

Performance is a measure of whether application decisions are made within the eight-week time limit for minor developments and a 13-week limit for major developments.

It also considers the "quality" of the decision or how many of the council's decisions were reversed if the application went to an appeal.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council said it was the speed with which it made decisions on minor applications which let it down.

It has been given until June to make changes or the government will "designate" the authority.

This means the council would no longer be responsible for making decisions on planning applications.

The council had a performance of 46.5% between October 2020 and September 2022.

Mr Gove's letter said: "That is indicative of a very poor quality service to local residents and a significant deterrent to investment in your local housing market and wider economy."

The council said its performance had suffered from the impacts of the pandemic and "acute" planning staff shortages and recruitment issues.

It said performance had significantly increased over the past six months.

The leader of the council, Stuart Bray, said: "We are confident that these positive changes to the planning service will see that we become better than ever before, and applications will continue to be dealt with in a timely and efficient manner."

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