Section B
Information on the consultation process, supporting evidence gathered and has 4 key questions outlining the likely impacts for equality and good relations
6. Outline consultation process planned or achieved
The consultation process achieved to date:
Background:
Belfast City Council contacted the Department as far back as 2016, raising the importance of statutory Planning Application Validation Checklists.
Belfast City Council Application Checklist:
Recognising the crucial importance of this issue, the Council first published its Application Checklist in November 2018. This provides non-mandatory guidance to customers on the information they need to provide with their application at the start of the process, depending on the nature of the proposal, its scale and whether the site is subject to any particular constraints. The Council had engaged with planning agents, architects and developers on its proposals to introduce the Application Checklist.
The BCC Application Checklist has had a positive impact on the quality of planning applications on submission and has now been culturally embedded in the process, particularly for larger scale and more complex applications. The Application Checklist is generally accepted by customers and there have been relatively few challenges to its implementation and usage in respect of individual planning applications. In addition, while the checklist sets out what is normally required, planning officers can use discretion where necessary as to whether the information is ultimately needed.
When the application checklist was used for Major applications, Council’s own review showed that it contributed to improved performance against statutory targets. Council’s internal data showed that more than two-thirds of Major applications were incomplete at the point of submission in 2019-20. After requesting additional information in line with the checklist process, this improved to over one-third within 14 days of receipt. Performance against the statutory target for Major applications improved by almost ten per cent from 2018-19 to 2019- 20, the council’s best ever performance.
However, the Application Checklist has limitations because it is advisory and does not have statutory weight. In effect, it has been a “workaround” of the previous legislation. Prior to the introduction of The Planning Order 2024 on 1 October 2024, Council has been unable to compel applicants to provide the information. Whereas in England and Wales, Planning Authorities have been able to publish Validation Checklists for many years, mandating the information that must be provided with applications for them to be processed.
NI Planning System
The NI planning system has been criticised for not delivering and limiting growth and investment. In 2022, both the Public Accounts CommitteeFootnote Three and NI Audit OfficeFootnote Four reports on the NI planning system include recommendations on improving the quality of applications on submission.
Among the NIAO findings were that the planning system had not met many of its main performance targets; and that the system is inefficient and often hampered by poor quality applications. One of its key recommendations was that the Department and councils continue to put an enhanced focus on improving the performance of the most important planning applications. The NIAO Report also made specific mention of the Council’s Application Checklist, published in 2018 to improve the quality of planning applications on submission, with the Department encouraging other councils to follow the BCC example in advance of any legislative changes.
The Public Accounts Committee found that the NI Planning System is slow to respond to quality issues. The PAC observed that allowing poor quality applications risks poor quality development and can “clog up” the system. Also, the PAC considered that presently the planning system does not sufficiently encourage good quality applications and a robust mechanism is needed to stop poor quality applications entering the system in the first place. It indicated that the good practice example of the Application Checklist used by BCC should be implemented across local government.
The inability for councils to mandate the minimum level of information supplied with applications has a seriously detrimental impact on the whole process. It significantly adds to processing times, places additional burdens on staff and consultees, wastes time assessing proposals without the key information, sets up conflict with customers, frustrates communities, residents and third parties and creates system failure.
Consultation Planned
Public consultationFootnote Five
Whilst there is no legislative requirement for councils to publicly consult on their proposed Validation Checklist under the Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024, Council recognises its duty under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 that it is good practice to do so, and contributes to better service delivery and accessibility. The Planning Service therefore intends to carry out a public consultation exercise over the coming months to align with the legislative timetable set out by the Department. These proposals have been agreed by both the Planning Committee and Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.
The Planning Service proposes to base the draft Planning Application Validation Checklist for consultation on its current Application Checklist, which it will review and update.
The Council intends to target the following stakeholders as part of the consultation:
- Planning agents and architects
- RSUA
- Developers
- Statutory and non-statutory consultees
- Relevant community groups
- Public – residents and businesses
- Council’s Equality Scheme consultee list
The consultation process will include an online questionnaire via Council’s Your Say Belfast platform and targeted engagement with key stakeholders. The Planning Committee has agreed that a committee workshop should be arranged on the Planning Application Validation Checklist. The equality screening and RNIA will be consulted on in tandem with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. It is expected that an engagement workshop will be arranged with planning agents, architects and developers who will be the most common users of the Planning Application Validation Checklist.
The public consultation and engagement process will begin on 2nd December 2024 and run for 10 weeks. Feedback from the consultation and engagement process will inform the proposed final version Planning Application Validation Checklist before it is brought to Members for adoption.
The outcome of the consultation and proposed final Planning Application Validation Checklist will be reported to the Planning Committee for feedback before referral to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for agreement and adoption, subject to ratification by Full Council.
Future Consultation
The Planning Application Validation Checklist must be reviewed and re-published by the council at no more than 3-year intervals.
As part of the implementation of the final Planning Application Validation Checklist, officers propose to put in place monitoring processes during the bedding in period to capture any questions and queries raised by applicants about the Planning Application Validation Checklist. These will be considered as part of the future review of the checklist.
7. Available evidence
What evidence / information (both qualitative and quantitative) have you gathered to inform this policy? Set out all evidence below to help inform your screening assessment.
It is important to record information gathered from a variety of sources such as: monitoring information; complaints; research surveys; consultation exercises from other public authorities.
Policy Context:
Belfast City Council Local Development Plan:
The Council’s Belfast Local Development Plan: Plan Strategy 2035, adopted in May 2023, is the statutory Development Plan for Belfast. It includes operational planning policies that proposals for new development must comply with, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Many operational policies require submission of specific information or technical reports so that the impact of the proposal can be appropriately assessed. However, currently, there is no requirement to mandate submission of this information with planning applications on submission, even though it may be required by planning policy. This can result in incomplete and poor-quality planning applications that do not include all the information necessary to properly assess them or allow the Council to approve the application without requiring further information. This can often result in delays processing applications as the information is asked for, commissioned by the applicant, submitted then subject to consultation.
Corporate Plan:
The inability to mandate information necessary to determine an application at the start of the process has an adverse impact on the Council’s ability to achieve statutory KPIs for planning applications. The KPIs are to determine applications for Major development with an average processing time of 30 weeks; and applications for Local development with an average processing time of 15 weeks.
Achieving statutory KPIs is an objective of the Council’s Corporate Plan.
Belfast Agenda:
The Belfast Agenda is the city’s Community Plan. It sets out ambitious objectives for growth includingFootnote Six:
- Increase the number of homes by 6,000 units across all types of property.
- Start to build 400 social homes per year across the council area.
- Retrofit 745 homes.
- Reduce the number of vacant units within the city centre by 5 per cent, from a current baseline of 23.41 per cent.
- Increase the number of new business start-ups from 1,435 per year to 1,800.
By improving the quality of planning applications, particularly for large scale proposals and applications for Major development, it will improve the Council’s ability to support the objectives and outcomes of the Belfast Agenda.
Regionally
Similarly, information requirements are also specified by regional planning policy, notably the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, published in 2015.
Belfast City Council Planning Service
Application Checklist – Evidence
Following discussion with DfI in 2017/18, Council introduced a pilot ‘Application Checklist’ on a non-statutory / administrative basis. The Application Checklist was in the form of a comprehensive guide for applicants which set out the information required to be submitted with any given type of planning application, according to its characteristics, scale and spatial constraints. Essentially based on the principle of validation checklists in England and Wales but without the statutory weight. The Council’s Application Checklist was implemented in three phases:
- Phase I (January 2019) applied to certain large-scale local planning applications;
- Phase II (May 2019) applied to certain major planning applications; and
- Phase III (April 2021) applied to all planning applications excluding certain householder and other minor applications / consents.Footnote Seven
Data shows that 68 per cent of Major applications submitted in 2019/20 were incomplete on submission, demonstrating the severity of this issue of poor quality planning applications. Since publication of its Application Checklist in November 2018, BCC returned its best ever statutory planning application performance of 37 weeks for Major applications and 14.0 weeks for Local applications in 2019/20. Much of this performance improvement is attributed to implementation of the Application Checklist. This saw Major application performance improve from 41.4 weeks in 2018/19 to 37 weeks in 2019/20. There was an even greater improvement in performance for large scale Local applications with a substantial 31.4 week improvement when comparing a sample of 2018/19 and 2019/20 applications.
Application Checklist Feedback:
Feedback from customers, statutory consultees and staff has generally been very positive.
- Agents and architects see significant value in the Council publishing a list of documents required with planning applications. It assists them when pricing work and justifying to their client which information is needed. Agents have said that they are now less likely to submit an incomplete application to BCC because they know the Council will send it back.
- Statutory consultees are very supportive of the Application Checklist as a means to frontload information and improve the quality of applications, thereby making the assessment process much more efficient. They unanimously support legislative change to improve information requirements at the beginning of the process.
- Staff have said that the Application Checklist provides a structured approach to information requirements. It requires information to be provided up front which in turn helps validation and processing times. The Application Checklist is particularly helpful when discussing information requirements for Major and large-scale Local applications at the PAD stage.
Following monitoring of the performance of the checklist regime, Council has concluded that since its introduction, the Application Checklist has been very positively received by consultees and customers who were less likely to submit an incomplete application. It also concluded that it had a significant positive impact on the Council’s delivery of its Development Management service, and in most cases, it allowed the Council to secure the additional supporting information upfront, resulting in less delays to the application process and less pressure on statutory and non-statutory consultees.
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Section 75 category |
Details of evidence/information and engagement |
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Religious belief |
On Census Day 21 March 2021, considering the resident population within the Belfast City Council area:
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Political opinion |
The Local Government Election May 2023 returned 60 elected members in total from the following political parties:
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Racial group |
On Census Day 21 March 2021, considering the resident population:
Belfast City Council Area:
Northern Ireland:
*Respondents could indicate more than one national identity |
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Age |
On Census Day 21 March 2021 in:
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Marital status |
On Census Day 21 March 2021, of the population aged 16+:
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Sexual orientation |
On Census Day 21 March 2021, of the population aged 16+:
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Men and women generally |
On Census Day (21 March 2021) the usually resident population of:
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Disability |
On Census Day 21 March 2021, people with a long-term health problem or disability that:
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Dependants |
On Census Day 21 March 2021, number of dependant children:
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8. What is the likely impact (indicate if the policy impact is positive or negative) on equality of opportunity for those affected by this policy, for each of the Section 75 equality categories? What is the level of impact?
| Section 75 category | Likely impact? | Level of impact? Minor/Major/None |
|---|---|---|
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Religious belief |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
None |
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Political opinion |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
None |
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Racial group |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. Council’s equality scheme sets out how we intend to fulfil our Section 75 duties to make our services accessible and available to everyone in Belfast (chapter 6.3). The Planning Service will make the Validation Checklist information available, on request, in alternative formats or languages. The Planning Service provide a contact service providing applicants with the offer to meet with a planning officer for general advice. |
Minor |
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Age |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. Research suggests that digital literacy is lower in older people.Footnote eight The Digital Skills in Northern Ireland report found that almost half of those aged 65 and over had no digital skills, compared to less than 10 per cent among those aged 16 to 49. This suggests a significant generational gap, indicating that older adults require additional support to develop their digital skills. To support applicants, hard copies of the Planning Application Validation Checklist will be available and support is available either through their case officer or the duty planning officer. |
None |
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Marital status |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
None |
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Sexual orientation |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
None |
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Men and women generally |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
None |
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Disability |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. Council’s equality scheme sets out how we intend to fulfil our Section 75 duties to make our services accessible and available to everyone in Belfast (chapter 6.3). The Planning Service will make the Planning Application Validation Checklist information available, on request, in alternative formats. The Planning Service provide a contact service providing applicants with the offer to meet with a planning officer for general advice. |
Minor |
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Dependants |
We do not believe that there is likely to be a negative impact on equality of opportunity in relation to Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
None |
9. Are there opportunities to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the Section 75 equalities categories?
| Section 75 category | If Yes, provide details | If No, provide reasons |
|---|---|---|
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Religious belief |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Political opinion |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Racial group |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Age |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Marital status |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Sexual orientation |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Men and women generally |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Disability |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
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Dependants |
There is no opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity with the Planning Application Validation Checklist. |
10. To what extent is the policy likely to impact (positive or negatively) on good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group? What is the level of impact?
| Good relations category | Likely impact? | Level of impact? Minor/Major/None |
|---|---|---|
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Religious belief |
None - The Planning Service is introducing a Planning Application Validation Checklist for planning applications in order to improve the planning process. Effects people of all religious beliefs, political opinion and racial groups equally. |
None |
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Political opinion |
None - The Planning Service is introducing a Planning Application Validation Checklist for planning applications in order to improve the planning process. Effects people of all religious beliefs, political opinion and racial groups equally. |
None |
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Racial group |
None - The Planning Service is introducing a Planning Application Validation Checklist for planning applications in order to improve the planning process. Effects people of all religious beliefs, political opinion and racial groups equally. |
None |
11. Are there opportunities to better promote good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group?
| Good relations category | If yes, provide details | If no, provide details |
|---|---|---|
| Religious belief | None | None |
| Political opinion | None | None |
| Racial group | None | None |
Footnotes
Footnote three: https://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/committees/2017-2022/pac/reports/planning-in-ni/public-accounts-committee---planning-in-northern-ireland.pdf
Footnote four: https://www.niauditoffice.gov.uk/publications/planning-northern-ireland
Footnote five: http://www.internalminutes/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=163&MID=11634#AI80436
Footnote six: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/belfastagenda
Footnote seven: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning/applying-for-planning-permission/application-checklist
Footnote eight: https://www.agendani.com/digital-skills-in-northern-ireland/
