{"id":80113,"date":"2020-07-30T07:00:59","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T06:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=80113"},"modified":"2020-07-30T08:25:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T07:25:39","slug":"corrupt-planning-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/corrupt-planning-decisions\/80113\/","title":{"rendered":"Major planning decisions susceptible to corruption, says research"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-80117 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-1024x718.jpg\" alt=\"planning decisions,\" width=\"696\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-1024x718.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-768x539.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-100x70.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-696x488.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-1068x749.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-599x420.jpg 599w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-1920x1347.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433-610x428.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dreamstime_xxl_40979433.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2>Major planning decisions across England are open to corruption from secretive lobbying, conflicts of interest and bribery, according to new research by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transparency.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Transparency International UK<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Local authorities across England lack essential safeguards to prevent corruption in planning decisions, new research by Transparency International UK has warned.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Permission Accomplished\u2019 reveals how individuals and companies may seek to corrupt major <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/the-importance-of-consistency-in-planning-decisions\/37423\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">planning decisions<\/a> through generous gifts and hospitality, lobbying key members in secretive closed-door meetings, and hiring serving councillors with inside knowledge to help secure development consents.<\/p>\n<p>Research suggests that these risks are compounded by weak safeguards against major conflicts of interest, such as councillors working for developers on the side, combined with a lack of meaningful sanctions to deter misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>Transparency International UK assessed 50 councils in England with planning responsibilities for housing and scored them on how well they manage corruption risks using a scale of 0 (poor) to 100 (meets good practice).<\/p>\n<h3>Research shows:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>All demonstrate significant room for improvement, with an average score of just 38 out of 100<\/li>\n<li>84% of these councils scored less than 50<\/li>\n<li>More than half scored under 40, indicating worrying gaps in corruption safeguards<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The report identifies five key corruption risks relating to councillors\u2019 involvement in major planning decisions.<\/p>\n<h3>These corruption risks include:<\/h3>\n<h4>Alleged bribery and excessive gifts and hospitality<\/h4>\n<p>A \u00a3500m+ development in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-london-42301350\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tower Hamlets is under investigation<\/a> by the National Crime Agency over the alleged solicitation of bribes for councillors.<\/p>\n<p>A planning chair in Westminster council was forced to resign over excessive gifts and hospitality worth over \u00a313,000.<\/p>\n<h4>Secretive lobbying<\/h4>\n<p>A \u00a3200m+ development in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/suspected-fraud-construction\/51238\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Liverpool is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office<\/a>, with no minutes taken at meetings between the developers, councillors and their officials.<\/p>\n<h4>Conflicts of interest<\/h4>\n<p>The research discovered 32 councillors across 24 councils holding critical decision-making positions in their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-covid19-2\/79887\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">local planning system<\/a> whilst also working for developers.<\/p>\n<h3>Report recommendations<\/h3>\n<p>Transparency International UK has made 10 practical recommendations that it said would be relatively inexpensive, easy for local authorities to implement and would improve transparency and strengthen oversight of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/design-planning-process\/67191\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">planning process<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>The recommendations include:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Minute and publish all meetings with developers and their agents for major developments<\/li>\n<li>Prohibit those involved in making planning decisions from accepting gifts and hospitality that risk undermining the integrity of the planning process<\/li>\n<li>Prohibit all councillors from undertaking lobbying or advisory work relating to their duties on behalf of paying clients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\u2018Eroded trust in the planning system\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Duncan Hames, director of policy at Transparency International UK, said: \u201cGiven the controversy often surrounding major developments, the evidence we have gathered makes for worrying reading.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPoor practice can give residents the overriding impression that decisions are being taken to benefit powerful and wealthy interests at the expense of delivering much-needed, truly affordable homes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFailing to recognise these concerns threatens to further erode trust in the planning system and undermine billions of pounds of investment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany will be disturbed to hear that there are those entrusted to decide on major planning applications who also work part-time for developers as their clients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAllowing such a clear conflict of interest for those holding senior roles does nothing to address concerns that the planning system is open to abuse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCouncillors working for developers in their private time should not be allowed to influence or determine any major planning applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hames added: \u201cFortunately, most of these issues can be easily addressed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/more-attention-to-design\/58872\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">local authorities<\/a> without the need for a change in the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile our recommendations are not a silver bullet, for many councils they would represent a major improvement on the measures currently in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"mk-custom-module-container\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major planning decisions across England are open to corruption from secretive lobbying, conflicts of interest and bribery, according to new research by Transparency International UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[676,997,276,952,649,567],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-80113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-planning-construction-news","7":"tag-construction","8":"tag-development","9":"tag-government","10":"tag-planning","11":"tag-planning-applications","12":"tag-planning-system"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Major planning decisions susceptible to corruption, says 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