Our customer care
We are committed to putting our customers first, by assessing your needs effectively and by ensuring that our services are accessible and efficient.
We aim to deliver the customer standards below (and any other standards that we are legally obliged to follow) whenever you contact us:
Our eight customer care standards
1 Give you choices on how and when you contact us
2 Ensure our services are accessible to all
3 Treat you with dignity and respect
4 Use language that is easy to understand
5 Be open and honest
6 Maintain your confidentiality (where appropriate)
7 Provide an efficient service
8 Listen to your views
The full corporate standard Customer Promise can be viewed here Customer Promise
The Planning and Regeneration Service also have specific customer care standards for:
- Submitting a pre-application planning enquiry
- Submitting a planning application
- Comments on planning applications
- Planning committee meetings
- Decisions on planning applications
- Enquiries about possible unauthorised development
- Submitting a building control application
- Requesting a building control site inspection
- Reporting a dangerous structure
- Submitting a local land charges search
All of these are explained in detail in this document.
1.Planning Applications
Submitting a pre-application planning enquiry
If you submit a pre-application planning enquiry, we will:
- Aim to acknowledge receipt or request further information either by phone or in writing within 5 working days
- Aim to contact you within 10 working days of receiving a valid pre-application enquiry and agree a time and date for a meeting, if requested
- Aim to reply to your pre-application enquiry within 30 working days of receiving a valid request or contact you
- If we are unable to respond within 30 working days, we will provide reasons and keep you informed of progress.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the date acknowledgements are sent and the date of decisions.
Submitting a planning application
If you submit a planning application, we will:
- Aim to validate and register your application and send an acknowledgement letter showing the case officer dealing with your application within 5 working days of receipt
- Aim to write to you within 7 working days of receipt if your application is invalid and informing you of the information we need to validate the application.
We also offer a validation checking service for a small charge. Details of the service can be found on our website at:
How we will measure this:
By monitoring planning application validation and registration timescales.
Submitting a Do I Need Planning Permission enquiry
If you submit a Do I Need Planning Permission enquiry, we will:
- Aim to respond to you within 10 working days of receiving a valid enquiry.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the date of receipt and the date of response.
Comments on planning applications
If you comment on a planning application, we will:
- Aim to make all letters received commenting on a planning application available on our website within 3 working days of receipt.
We regret we cannot enter into individual correspondence due to the volume of letters we receive on planning applications. However, we do encourage direct contact with the applicant or agent if you wish to discuss the application.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the date comments are received and the date they are acknowledged and displayed on the website.
Planning Committee meetings
If a planning application you have made or commented on is referred to a Planning Committee, we will:
- Aim to write to you at least 5 working days before the Planning Committee meeting advising you of the date, time, venue and arrangements for speaking.
How will we measure this:
By monitoring the date when letters are sent out.
Decisions on planning applications
If you make an application you can expect:
- To receive the decision notice, normally by email, within 3 working days after the decision is made.
How will we measure this:
By monitoring the date when decision letters are sent out.
2.Planning Enforcement
Enquiries about possible unauthorised development
If you make a written complaint about a possible breach of planning law, we will:
- Prioritise complaints based on possible risks to the public or the environment. High priority cases involve possible permanent damage to public health and safety or the environment
- Aim to acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days
- Aim to carry out a site inspection within 2 working days for high priority cases and within 10 working days for other cases to see whether there is a breach of planning control
- If there is a breach of planning control, aim to notify you within 8weeks of receiving a high priority complaint and within 13weeks of receiving other complaints and tell you what action we will be taking.
If there is a breach, we will ask the person responsible to:
- submit a retrospective planning application (where appropriate)
- stop the unauthorised activities; or
- remove any unauthorised development or comply with a planning condition or both.
We will send you a progress report once the action to be taken has been agree.
If we issue an enforcement notice, the person who receives it has a right of appeal. If there is an appeal, we may contact you to ask if you wish to submit more information or appear at an inquiry or hearing to support our case. Once there is an appeal, we must make any new comments or evidence we receive available for public inspection, including by the person making the appeal and their legal team.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the dates of acknowledgements, site inspection visits and notification of action.
Requests for confirmation of enforcement notice compliance
If you submit a request for confirmation of enforcement notice compliance and pay the appropriate fee, we will:
- Aim to respond within 10 working days of receiving the request.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the date received and the date of response.
3.Building Control
Submitting a building control application
If you submit a building control application, we will:
- Aim to validate and acknowledge 90% of applications within 2 working days
- Aim to assess the plans of 40% of applications within 5 working days and 90% of applications within 10 working days
- Aim to issue all decision notices within the statutory time period (5 or 8 weeks depending on the type of application).
How we will measure this:
By monitoring dates of validation, plan vetting and decision notices.
Requesting a building control site inspection
If you ring to request a site inspection before 10am, we will:
- Carry out a site inspection the same day you call.
If you ring to request a site inspection after 10am, we will:
- Try to carry out a site inspection the same day you call if a building inspector is in the area. Otherwise it will be carried out the next working day.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the dates of inspection requests and when visits are undertaken.
Submitting other building control applications (Extended Services applications)
If you make an Extended Services application for one of our discretionary services e.g. Air Pressure Test (APT), Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) rating with Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) rating with Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), U-value and water usage calculation, we will:
- Aim to validate and acknowledge 90% of applications within 2 working days
- Aim to assess 90% of applications within 10 working days.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the dates of validation and the date of application checking.
Requesting an Air Pressure Test
If you request an Air Pressure Test and provide at least 24 hours notice, we will:
- Endeavour to carry out the Air Pressure Test on the day requested.
How will we measure this:
By monitoring the dates of inspection requests and the date the test is completed.
Reporting a dangerous structure
If you report a dangerous structure, we will:
- Respond within 2 hours of the report being received.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the date and time the call is received and the response time.
4.Land Charges
Submitting a local land charges search
If you submit a local land charges search, we will:
- Aim to respond to your valid local land charges search within 4 working days of receipt.
How we will measure this:
By monitoring the dates we receive local land charge searches and dates of the replies.
Customer Care Standards Planning and Regeneration Service
Page 1 09 October 2012