The government has allocated £170m for local authorities to further develop online planning services, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 22 July 2005.
The ODPM's Planning Delivery Grant is designed to reward councils for making progress in e-planning as well as speed in determining applications and improving housing provision. The grant is often used by councils to introduce new IT systems. According to official figures, 22% of the funding is spent on IT while 46% goes on staffing costs. Planning minister Yvette Cooper said: "The £170m finalised today is the largest so far, up £40m on last year. The grant is having a major impact on planning services both in improving their performance and in raising the profile of planning departments within local authorities.
"Since 2003 we have now allocated some £350m which underlies the importance of a well resourced local planning system to delivering sustainable communities. Some high performing authorities will receive in excess of £1m this year."
According to the ODPM, since the grant was introduced in 2003, the number of applications determined in eight weeks has risen by 6%, against a similar rise in numbers of applications received.
Research coinciding with the announcement shows that 50% of the 387 local planning authorities across the country are now able to offer comprehensive online planning services.
The report, issued by the government's Planning Portal, shows that these councils offer a service where users can complete form, attach relevant documents and send the application to the authority online. All councils now partner with the portal and offer at least one feature of the online application process.
Paul Kilner, planning portal director, said that usage of the service during this summer is meeting the targets he had set.
"Reaching the 50% mark is a huge boost for the portal," said Kilner. "With so many authorities now fully ready for e-planning, we are on the verge of reaching critical mass. I said back in May that our main challenge was to drive up the number of planning applications made through the site, and with over 1,000 applications in June alone we are well on the way to meeting that challenge."
Quelle: KableNet, 24.07.2005
