Deloitte is ideally placed to meet the requirements of Local Planning Authorities due to our planning expertise and breadth of local government experience. We believe the following represent some of the most pressing challenges faced by authorities in planning effectively:

• Managing multiple, overlapping change projects effectively
• Adoption of new technology
• Alignment with core initiatives such as eProcurement and customer relationship management
• Linking in with wider planning activities such as LLPG (Local Land & Property Gazetteer); and
• Meeting central Government requirements to reduce administration costs, maximise efficiency and deliver against key performance indicators.

Specifically, we believe Local Authorities are seeking a partner whom is able to provide:

• A demonstrable understanding of planning in particular and electronic delivery of services generally;
• An understanding of the implications of ICT change projects in Local Government;
• The ability to empathise with how the service user interacts with the Authority/planning facility;
• A thorough knowledge of PARSOL tools, standards and approaches and more importantly how these are applied within a Local Planning Authority (LPA); and
• The ability to work collaboratively with LPAs in order to supplement existing planning resources.

Key Issues

In addition to the strategic issues already identified, Planning departments are facing further, immediate challenges:

• Whilst the Planning Delivery Grant has added resources to many local authorities, the shortage of trained planning staff continues to place pressures on service delivery.
• The recent planning reforms have placed a greater emphasis on consultation (e.g. Statements of Community Involvement), simplification (Local Development Frameworks) and on improving the quality and speed of the decision making process.
• The Freedom to Information Act also necessitates a greater degree of transparency (over and above that required by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985).
• The achievement of many and varied key national targets including eGovernment deadlines, Best Value speed of service requirements, Public Service Agreements specific to planning and ODPM strategic planning objectives.

e-Service delivery & planning

Electronic delivery of planning services will play a key part in meeting the challenges and reforms outlined above. Although e-planning is in use in some Local Authorities, the number of Local Authorities with advanced online access/interface to development control services is limited; the PARSOL project will have an important role to play in addressing this. The ODPM's ePlanning Blueprint clearly sets out the nine main service propositions. To deliver these, PARSOL will have to be successfully implemented and integrated with other ePlanning initiatives. (e.g. Planning Casework Service (PCS), the Development Plan/LDF, Representation And Administration Service (DPRAS) and the Planning Portal.) We believe, the implementation of ePlanning will deliver significant benefits, both in terms of productivity/efficiency gains and service improvements

To address the challenges described above, Deloitte can assist your Authority using the approach outlined below.

Fees and engagement management

Our core team will be in place to manage the relationship with you after spending time understanding your specific requirements. Experience from our work with the National e-Procurement Project leads us to believe there are three types of authorities using consultancy services in this way. We propose a a different fee arrangement for each of these. All will allow for an open and honest review at each stage so that continuous improvements can be made throughout the life of the contract.