Portsmouth City Borough Council Cabinet Member for Planning Policy & City Development Meeting

Apologies were received from Cllr Ryan Brent.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 July 2022 were agreed by the Cabinet Member.

After an introduction by the Assistant Director for Planning & Economic Growth the Cabinet Member invited Cllr Judith Smyth to speak.

Cllr Smyth highlighted the difficulty of the matter and the finely balanced decision to uphold the call-in at the Scrutiny Management Panel.  All present at the Scrutiny Management Panel had however expressed the belief that this area of the Constitution required investigation by the Constitution Working Group as it was currently unclear what powers the Cabinet Member had.

In the absence of clarity, she believed that the matter should be referred to the Governance & Audit & Standards Committee prior to a final decision being made.

Should the Cabinet Member be minded to refer the matter to the Governance Audit & Standards Committee, as Planning Committee Chair, she encouraged that they meet as soon as possible in order for a decision to be taken to help clear the backlog of planning applications.

The Cabinet member regretted the delay incurred but believed that the matter should be referred to the Governance & Audit & Standards Committee prior to a final decision being made.

RESOLVED that taking into account the matters raised by the Scrutiny Management Panel, the Cabinet Member referred the matter on to the Governance & Audit & Standards Committee for comment prior to either amending or reconfirming the decisions made on 26 July 2022.