Council defends planning committee after critical peer review

In a joint review with the Planning Advisory Service (PAS), published in March 2025, the Local Government Association (LGA) made 11 recommendations to reform the planning committee.

Howver, the review said Cheshire East's planning service itself had made great improvements and stood “on the cusp of excellence”.

The motion, which was passed during a full council meeting last week (30 July), stated: “This Council supports and upholds the general principle that ‘Officer recommend and Elected Members decide’ with regard to Reports before Council and Committees both generally and particularly with regard to Planning applications that come before the Planning Committee and this Council commends the Planning Committee members for supporting the democratic process of decision making and their duty to challenge officers recommendations in support of the residents and communities who elect them as their representatives.

"We also welcome the Peer Review which we look forward to debating its content in the near future."

The wording of the final motion differed from the initial motion proposed by independent councillor Pete Smith, which read: “[The council] rejects any suggestion, insinuation or innuendo that members of the planning committee are anything less than ‘beyond reproach’ when they vote on planning applications before them”.

The peer review strongly criticised Walsall’s policy of having members from each ward on the planning committee - instead of a conventional political balance - and allowing questioning of members of the public who spoke.

It found: “However, at present there is a perception held, both internally and externally, that the planning committee is operating with undue influence and suspicions over probity; this casts a dark cloud over the council and severely affects its reputation.

“This ‘cloud’ overshadows the improvement of the planning service and the council’s wider ‘open for business’ position.”

The LGA recommended Walsall should review the planning committee’s purpose, structure and format “to both improve effectiveness and address perceptions of undue influence, including the rebalancing of roles and responsibilities”.

It explained: “Planning committee is not operating as a positive shop window to show that the council is open to business with refusals and overturns being showcased.

“The council needs to recognise that the planning committee requires the highest standards of integrity and transparency.”

Reforms should see the committee made smaller and become a “more focussed, highly trained committee, in line with PAS best practice” reflecting the political balance rather than individual ward representatives.

Doing so would “address the perception of undue influence and probity matters as well as formalising the members’ roles and responsibilities in planning committee, separating the quasi-judicial role away from a ward member dynamic”.

Change was also needed to the scheme of delegation, with officer sign-off “to ensure only the most complex items which require democratic scrutiny are put before committee”.

It said call-in of items to be refused “should be only used in very special circumstances of strategic importance and for sound planning reasons”.

The review noted planning committee deferrals were “very high and lead to duplication of effort for officers”.

This was linked to “the blurring of roles and responsibilities of councillors and officers”.

The review said: “The unusual practice of public speaker questioning is not tightly controlled. The questioning from committee members often strays into technical matters which should be directed to the officers.

“This current approach can add to the perception of bias and a lack of impartiality by councillors.”

Walsall should consider removing the questioning of speakers, it recommended.

Reviewers were also concerned by the process for declaring members’ interests, which was “not consistent and is reinforcing a perception of uncertainty around councillors’ ethics and probity”.

A statement by council associate leader Adrian Andrew said: “We are very proud of the progress our planning service has made. This recognition reflects the hard work of our officers and our commitment to delivering a planning service that supports regeneration, growth, innovation, and community wellbeing. Walsall is open for business and we are ready to support the borough’s future.”

Cllr Andrew noted key achievements included an 85% approval rate for planning applications in 2024, with  940 planning permissions granted.