Council planners taken out of special measures

A council has regained power over its planning applications after being placed in special measures for almost two years.

Bristol City Council's planning department was stripped of some of its powers in March 2024 for making decisions too slowly.

However, the government announced on Tuesday that the local authority had made sufficient progress in tackling a large backlog of applications.

MP Matthew Pennycook, the housing and planning minister, said: "The Secretary of State is satisfied that the designated local planning authority has provided adequate evidence of sufficient improvement against areas of weakness identified in an initial assessment of its performance."

The backlog of cases built up following a recruitment freeze and voluntary redundancies in the council's department in 2021 and 2022, along with ongoing problems to attract and retain experienced staff, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The government effectively took over the department in March 2024 by placing the council under "designation" because of how long the team of officers were taking to determine smaller cases.

Applicants were then able to bypass the council and submit requests directly to the government-appointed inspector.

The council has been approached for comment.

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