A Government Minister has warned a West Yorkshire council it must improve its planning service quickly otherwise it will be subject to special measures later this year.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, wrote to Calderdale Council on April 12 warning the authority he was minded to “designate” the authority if necessary improvements were not made speedily enough.

Designation would effectively put some planning decision making in Government hands rather than the council’s.

It would mean developers in areas such as Shelf, Brighouse and Bailiff Bridge could submit “relevant planning applications” for consideration directly to the Planning Inspectorate.

A copy of the letter was Tweeted on social media late last Friday afternoon (May 12) by a very critical-of-the-council, which is Labour-controlled, Calder Valley Conservative MP Craig Whittaker.

But the council says issues – particularly the speed of determination of minor planning applications – arose because of a combination of circumstances and investment has meant the service is “in a different place” now, with the authority confident it can maintain much higher performance going forward.

Mr Gove says in his letter to the council’s Chief Executive, Robin Tuddenham, that the Government’s planning performance regime was introduced to ensure all local planning authorities meet an objective of having a “efficient and effective” service to deliver homes the country needs.

Mr Gove wrote: “I have significant concerns about the performance of a handful of local authorities including your council.

“A performance by your council of 53.7 per cent between October 2020 and September 2022 is far below the expected threshold of 70 per cent.

“That is indicative of a very poor quality service to local residents and a significant deterrent to investment in your local housing market and wider economy.

“That is not good enough, and despite some more encouraging recent data, I am therefore minded to designate Calderdale Council.”

Mr Gove said he would give the authority the opportunity to demonstrate improved performance by June.

Responding to his comments, Calderdale Council’s Director of Regeneration and Strategy, Shelagh O’Neill, said that over a period of two years up to the summer of 2022, Calderdale’s performance on the speed of determination of minor planning applications fell below the standard set by the Government, although it did manage to maintain acceptable performance against the targets for speed of determination for major applications, and quality of decision making for all types of application.

“Planning services across the country are under pressure and we have to balance meeting demand with resources available and recruitment and retention issues in the sector.

“The under performance reflects a snapshot in time when the Planning team faced particular challenges around staffing levels and competing priorities, for example the completion of the Local Plan examination.

“The service is now in a very different place, with additional staff joining the team and investments in new IT systems to increase efficiency and capacity.

“We are therefore very confident about maintaining much higher performance as we move forward – continuing to ensure sustainable development whilst safeguarding our distinctive environment,” she said.

In the council’s 2022-23 budget, Cabinet proposals reported Planning had been a troubled directorate with complaints about long delays and proposals to recruit 6.25 (full or part time) staff costing £300,000 annually to deal with the problems, plus a one-off £311,000 for IT software which will help planning deal with issues more efficiently, were approved.