Councils' planning and development services to be hit by cuts

The Audit Commission report is the first in depth study of how councils are managing the impact of funding cuts. It reveals that local planning and development services at the bigger councils face cuts of 28%, whilst councils' housing departments face cuts of up to 12%. Local councils are facing a very challenging period, a planning expert has warned.

The recently enacted Localism Act is not likely to give councils respite either, with the Local Government Association (LGA) predicting that the additional administration costs imposed on councils could be up to £68 million a year.

“Local planning authorities are facing a very challenging period," said Iain Gilbey, a planning law expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com "There is a clear tension between the need to take on board the requirements of the Localism Act, when local authority resources are at the lowest ebb in living memory. The private sector will play a critical role in engaging positively in the new planning system and adopting a partnership approach wherever possible."

"Inevitably, in the policy vacuum created by the new system, the number of planning appeals will increase, and both sides will need to understand and take into account the delay and uncertainty that will ensue, until the new system beds in,” Gilbey said.

Councils are supportive of provisions contained in the Localism Act, such as the general power of competence and the devolution of power to local authorities. However, there is concern that the 28% spending cuts that the Government is imposing on councils over the next four years will prove challenging, Margaret Eaton, the LGA chair said.

"Inevitably, as with any radical change, putting the localism agenda into practice is going to mean local authorities taking on some new responsibilities," a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said.