Download - PAS: The Planning Quality Framework
The
Planning Quality FrameworkLeadership essentials Oct 2014
www.qualityframework.net www.pas.gov.uk
Steve Barker
PAS
Today – Planning Quality Framework
Me
• Why do we need it?
• What is it? How does it work?
• What does it do?
You
• Is it useful?
• 2 exercises to help us develop it
• Q&A as we go
Quality?
“top quartile” performer(this is not uncommon)
or is quality…
Leading to:
Time for a change?
why we need a quality framework
the focus will always be on speed until
there is something better to care about
wasted time/effort
validation
conditions
big stuff / small stuff
routine / unusual
how much of what?
permitted development
do customers like us?neighbours feel ignored?
good ideas did we/do we add value?
evidence / guesses
did that work?
focused improvement
measures not targets
VFM
end-to-end
leadership…
… does not manage the status quo;
it challenges it
• planning - passive, reactive to change?
• time to create the change agenda?
• ‘designation’ = ‘how can we get quicker?’
• better questions: how do we measure and
deliver value and quality? and ‘how do we
resource in an unpredictable world’?
councillors: better value from data
• Previous PAS work – officer focused
• Councillors: not just about access to data
• elected members need access to
performance data they can use
demonstrate the value of your work
• performance management
• customer care, customer satisfaction
• pre-app and post app reviews
• annual monitoring reports, design guides
“There’s nothing new under the sun”Ecclesiates 1;9
demonstrate the value of your work
• performance management
• reporting system data (e.g. PS1/2 returns)
• customer care, customer satisfaction
• pre-app and post app reviews, AMR
“There’s nothing new under the sun”Ecclesiates 1;9
PQF: re-frames and enhances what you
already do and applies some standards so
that you can report and compare.
what is the
planning quality framework?
in a nutshell
A collection of tools and
techniques…that use data…to make
reports…that help councils
understand DM service
performance…and/or benchmark
against others.
no single measure of quality
The work Agents
Neighbours
Applicants
Reviewer(s)
Organisational - (ICT, teams, headcounts etc.) C’llrs
Amenity Groups
Staff
Outcomes
Resources “Value”
Process What if ?
Quantitative Qualitative
Design ?build outcomes Q&A TipsPractice
Overview
The work Agents
Neighbours
Applicants
Reviewer(s)
C’llrsAmenity Groups
Staff
TipsQ&A ?
Outcomes
Resources
“Value”
Process What if ?
Qualitative
Opinions
Design, build, outcomesPractice helpful tools
Organisational - (ICT, teams, headcounts etc.)
Quantitative
Facts
quantitative: applications data
The work Outcomes
Resources “Value”
Process What if ?
data standards
qualitative: 8 customer Surveys
Agents
Neighbours
Applicants
Officer
C’llrsStaff Amenity Groups
Organisational - (ICT, teams, headcounts etc.)
practice
Design Pre/post appnegotiation outcomes
• NPPF integrated into policy
• Appeals / refusals based on design
• Focus on design at PreApp
• Design guides / panels
• BREEAM
• Building for Life
• In house design expertise
• Councillor reviews of development
Design Pre/post appnegotiation outcomes
It’s a framework
The work Agents
Neighbours
Applicants
Reviewer(s)
How are you organised ?(ICT, teams, headcounts etc.)
C’llrsAmenity Groups
Staff
Outcomes
Resources “Value”
Process What if ?Quality
1. Quantitative
Quarterly reports: the ‘rounded’ picture:
Q: how many expensive process reviews
focus on speeding things up but fail to notice
that the service says ‘yes’ more often than its
peers, creates less waste and has happier
customers?
…less of this35 pages of histograms ?????!
more of this…Structured ‘story’
Part 1 – The work
Part 2 – The outcomes
Part 3 – Value/non-value
Part 4 – Resources
Part 5 - Process
Part 6 - Surveys
Council Planning Quality Report
Online
Trends over time Database – DIY reports
PART 1 - THE WORK
1a. development categories
Big stuff
PART 1 - THE WORK
1b. Application Counts/ Fee Comparator
Purpose: To understand your work and fee income and
compare with your peers..
For review:
• Are you very different from
your peers?
• Are peers seeing more of a
particular type of development?
• Something to learn?
• Do the applications / fees mix
represent any risk?
• Are you managing this risk
appropriately ?
work profile fee profile
PART 2 - OUTCOMES
2a. Approval Rates
Purpose: What types of development are we saying 'yes' to and
how often?
For review:
• Granting more permissions?
• Messages for stakeholders?
• Is the %age of permissions always
a positive?
• Do your approval rates differ
significantly from your peers?
• What might be happening
elsewhere that you can learn from?
2a. Approval Rates
PART 3 – VALUE/NON VALUE
3a. Withdrawn applications
Purpose: Rate of withdrawal. A 'waste' indicator. Where
possible they should be reduced to near zero.
For review:
• What is the overall trend ?
• Are you doing anything - is it
working?
• What’s the cost? Fees don’t
cover costs. Then the 'free go‘?
• How many occur at the request
of the council?
• What do your developer
community think ?
3b. Follow-up applications
Purpose: Permission to start? 'follow-ups‘ – series’ of apps for
same development. Often the market (EoTs, some NMA),
sometimes required by us (vary/remove conditions).
For review:
• These don’t cover the costs
• Is there anything to be done?
• Complex Vs simple
• What do developers think?
• Is there a positive/negative
story here?
3b. Follow-up applications
3d. Non-heritage applications zero fee
PART 4 – RESOURCES
4b. Headcount estimate
Purpose: how well matched are resources (FTEs) to the
volumes of work?
For review:
• How does the FTE
estimate compare to
reality?
• Caseloads?
• Does the trend
correspond with volumes?
• Are there opportunities to
re-focus resources?
4c. Development investment
Purpose: What is the investment value that development
proposals represent? For review:
• significant inward
investment £sum Vs cost
of planning
• What do the trends
(rising/falling) mean for
your place?
• Significance between this
and fee income (e.g.
future resources
available)?
• FTE estimate (e.g. can
you handle a growing
upward trend, or re-focus
resources for a downward
trend)?
PART 5 – PROCESS
5a. Valid on day 1
Purpose: Shows the proportion of applications received
that can be worked on straight away.
For review:
• This is avoidable time and
cost
• Causes. Don't assume are
the sole fault of the
applicant/agent.
• Are your procedures,
processes, consistency
and guidance as good as
it could be?
• What are your customers
saying?
• Are some application more
vulnerable than others?
Why do we use boxplots?
• Shows variation in a set of data –
something an ‘average’ doesn’t.
• e.g. average decision 48 days. Hides
fact that most are issued between
35 and 54 days.
Knowing this you can:
• be clearer to customers
• improve the process – what is
stopping us making 35 days?
Quick guide to box plots
Average
Improvement
opportunity
5c. end-to-end decision times
Purpose: Shows the number of days between applications
being received and a decision notice being issued.
avoid this
WHAT IF…?
• compare me to my peers (you’d expect that)
• compare me to “best of breed” (interesting)
• make me look like the best (very interesting)
Exercise 1
Task:
Design a ‘dashboard’ of key planning
measures for councillors
Hints/tips:
• No more than 5 or 6
• What do you need at your finger tips?
• Who’s your audience(s)?
Part 2 - customer surveys
Agents
Neighbours
Applicants
Officer
C’llrsStaff Amenity Groups
Organisational - (ICT, teams, headcounts etc.)
‘customers’ part 1(regular, application - specific)
• applicants (members of the public that
have made a planning application)
• agents (a professional person or company
making a planning application)
• neighbours (a person/organisation that
has commented on an application)
• officer case review (for the council to
assess how well it did)
• web-based, by email
• Each council gets it’s on toolkit
• surveys have common themes:
– how helpful?
– manage time well?
– use information well?
– clarity of decision?
How
survey results
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Helpful
Use of time
Use of information
Clarity of decision
Applicant
Neighbour
Review
Application Ref: HA/FUL/4456/14
Customers – part 2
annual surveys(planning more generally)
• councillors (what’s the community view, avoid the political)
• amenity groups (representative views from organised communities)
• staff (are we helping them to do a good job?)
• Head of service – how the service is set up
Beyond “things are different” to “this appears to be why things are different”
Exercise 2
Task:
Design a ‘councillor survey’
Hints/tips:
• Ward councillors - communities
• 4/ 5 questions
• Avoid politics
• What can councillors tell those running
the service that others can’t?
3. Practice
assessment Notes
a) Quality of planning Did we mediate well ?
b) Quality of
development
Has the development
met its objectives?
quality (of planning)
How do we collect data on quality of planning?
• Policy
• Pre Application work
• Design Guides
• Building for Life
• BREEAM
• not much point in comparison
quality (of development)
How do we collect data on quality of
development?
• short term: go on site visits (with committee)
• longer term goal: link planning data with
completions data. Understand what actually
gets built and outcomes.
Bringing it all together
Annual Report
• The annual report process is a catalyst to bring
everything together and publish it
• We can help collect & collate, but it’s your
report. Your commentary. Your conclusions
about whether you are delivering “quality”
• We want it to become a “badge”. Over time.
• Combine data into a holistic framework.
PQF: better for management
• multi-layered views
• database is yours – climb inside the numbers
• focus on the important; no more expensive ‘blanket’ improvement projects
• improve, defend, protect
• evidence-based change
• culture shift: customer focused service alongsidetimely decision making
• members?
what’s the commitment ?
• No £cost
• 4 days a year of your time
You get:
• quarterly, annual reports
• free customer survey system, free tools
• new focus for cost and vfm, investment and
resources
sign up
• To sign up: email [email protected]
• name of main contact and a sub
• a JPEG file of your council’s logo on a white background
• the email address that you’d like the surveys to be emailed from (this might be a person or a generic email e.g. [email protected])
• Portfolio holder (optional)
In comparison to benchmark
Benchmark Quality framework
You have to do it all Modular
Once per year Just start
Snapshot Ongoing & regular
Industrial strength accounting
Low hassle
Internal management tool External badge
Councils only Councils, developers and RTPI
Understand value for money
Understand quality