Minutes:
Nick Harding explained that the Transformation Project is running for the planning service. He stated that stage 1 of the process has been reached which is being run by a team within the Council and the Planning Team are working with that team.
He stated tat at the end of stage 1 there are a series of recommendations which have been tabled by the Transformation Team.
· He stated that we are commissioning an overview on how we use the existing software system which will identify which parts of the system are not being used effectively or at all and then to be able to bring a greater degree of automation to the process which will then create spare capacity which can be redirected within the service.
· NH stated that the second recommendation is to improve the management of the workflow within the team which may involve the purchase of an add on tool to the existing software system and that will enable tasks to be created rather than passing files and email to officers.
· NH stated that the third recommendation is to buy a connector between the planning portal and the back office system which will enable planning portal applications to have the information imported directly into the back off system which will reduce the amount of manual inputting that is required by the Technical Team, so that there is some additional time which ca be redirected to other activities.
· To train a wider number of people across the team so that they are more capable and proficient in keeping the template documents up to date which will reduce the amount of adhoc short term template updating that is currently going on.
· NH explained that the fourth recommendation is to redirect some of the printing that is done to the essential service rather than the Technical Team Officers, as it has been identified that there is a substantial amount of time which can be saved by the central admin team fulfilling that part of the process.
Nick Harding stated that stage 1 of the transformation project will be considered by members before it is finally agreed, and the Transformation Team will look to make the changes and implemented and commence stage 2 of the project.
Marcel Cooper stated that there have been issues previously when uploading information to the planning portal due to the limitation of size and he asked whether the proposed connection would allow for the upload of larger files than the planning portal will currently not accept. Nick Harding stated that will not be permissible because the planning portal connector simply scrapes the information off of the application form and places it on the back office system.
Nick Harding agreed to find out what the FDC file size limitation is compared to the planning portal and if there is a significant discrepancy then it can be raised at the next planning portal session. Marcel Copper stated that if that could be an action it would be appreciated as some of the reports are huge.
Councillor Mrs Laws stated that she appreciates all of the work tat is being undertaken with the project and added that the point that Marcel Cooper has made is valid. She added that whilst there is a cost implication, there is the need to move forward and take into account the file size.
Nick Harding stated that the number and type of applications are monitored that are received into the service in comparison to staffing resources. He added that from a financial point of view and in the context of the transformation project, corporately the Council is cautious about committing to a long term staffing increase whilst the transformation project is ongoing as it may identify an amount of time which would create additional capacity within the team would normally try and satisfy by sourcing more workers into the team. He added that authority has been given for short term additional staffing, there will be no agreement for long term staffing until such a time as the transformation project is completed and its know where we are truly are wit the new system before any decision will be made with regard to long term staffing within the team.