Transparency data

Board meeting minutes 18th October 2024 - The Planning Inspectorate

Updated 4 March 2025

Applies to England

Board meeting minutes 18th October 2024 - The Planning Inspectorate

Minutes                                              28/01/2025

Title of meeting	Planning Inspectorate Board Meetings
Date	18 October 2024
Venue	Hybrid/Runway East, Bristol
Chair	Trudi Elliott (TE), Non-Executive Director (NED)

Present
Emir Feisal (EF), Non-Executive Director (NED)
Oliver Munn (OM), Non-Executive Director (NED)
Adrian Penfold (AP), Non-Executive Director (NED)
Graham Stallwood (GS), Chief Operating Officer
Sean Canavan (SC), Chief Strategy Officer
Joanne Butcher (JB), Chief Finance Officer
Rachel Graham (RG), Chief Digital Information Officer
Hayley Kelly (HK), Chief People Officer
Will Burgon (WB), Director of Planning, MHCLG (virtual)

In attendance

Full meeting
Executive Support and Governance Officer (DP), minutes and actions / meeting support
Professional Lead (RP) (sub for Chief Planning Inspector)

Attending for specific items
Customer Insights Lead (ZC) (item 7) (virtual)
Senior Media and External Affairs Manager (GL) (item 7) (virtual)
Head of People (RH) (item 8)
Corporate Strategy and Reporting Lead (BM) (item 9)
Project and Change Management Lead (TJ) (item 9)
Head of Data and Performance (AB) (item 9)

Apologies
Madeleine Burch (MB), Non-Executive Director (NED) Boardroom Apprentice
Paul Morrison (PM), Chief Executive
Richard Schofield (RS), Chief Planning Inspector

Observer
Risk, Fraud and Business Continuity Manager (EG)
Personal Assistant to CFO/CPO (JY) (virtual)

1.0 - Welcome and Declaration of Interests

1.1  The Chair called for Declarations of Interest, of which there were none. 

2.0 - Minutes of July Board meetings and corporate action tracker 

2.1  No further comments or amendments received for the part one July Board minutes.

2.2  Minor typo / clarification comments made for the part two July Board minutes via an email report.

2.3  No comments were raised on the action tracker. 

Agreed:

2a) The part one and part two minutes (subject to modifications relating to an email report) of the July Board are approved and an accurate record of the meeting.

3.0 Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) update – October meeting

3.1  EF provided an update from the meeting earlier that day which focussed on Fraud policy and Benefits Realisation. This pace of realisation was discussed and whether it was fast enough and being scrutinised correctly. Other ways of monitoring and realising benefits are to be investigated with colleagues in other departments to find out if they have practices from which we can learn. 

4.0 Remuneration Committee update – September meeting

4.1  AP reported that the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Remuneration Committee are to be revised to make it clear that the committee will decide the broad remuneration of the SCS, rather than make a recommendation to Board. It was agreed that the revised ToR will be subject to approval at the next full Board.

4.2  The Committee considered the SCS pay proposals in light of the civil service pay remit. It also looked at gender pay gap information and asked for more benchmarking against other organisations and to consider looking at civil service initiatives to try and reduce that gap.

Action:

4a)  DP to table revised ToR at November Board.

5.0 Chief Executive’s (CEO) update to the Board – OFFICIAL SENSITIVE

5.1   Recorded in the part two minutes. 

6.0 Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) update to the Board – OFFICIAL SENSITIVE

6.1   Recorded in the part two minutes. 

7.0 Stakeholders and Customer engagement

7.1  GL updated Board on proposals to progress Ambition 2 of the Inspectorate’s Strategic Plan, including establishing webinar series with Local Planning Authorities and other external stakeholders, and a series of social media and web-based ‘top tips’ on, for instance, ‘How to present evidence in an appeal’. The latter has received very positive feedback from stakeholders. The meeting proposed that the organisation investigates Planning Inspectorate customer days or similar outreach opportunities.

7.2  GL provided an update on the Inspectorate’s external stakeholder survey, including a summary of views expressed. NEDs probed elements of the survey, including the Inspectorate’s approach to updating appellants on the status of their appeal and whether the Inspectorate could do more to meet these concerns. The Inspectorate has posted on gov.uk a response to respondents.

7.3  ZC updated the Board on customer performance, including the timeliness of responses to enquiries, complaints and FOI requests. Performance in all of these areas is meeting expected levels and is at its highest level for a number of years. ZC outlined the changes taken within the team to improve performance. TE requested that the positive news story is reported and amplified within the organisation.

7.4. The Board identified further areas of improvement that the Inspectorate could work towards, including potential amendments to decision letters, better signposting and the construction of automated tools such as chatbots to support customer interaction.  

Action:

7a)  NEDs to share outreach materials with their wider networks.

8.0 Strategic People Plan / Colleague Experience Assessment – OFFICIAL SENSITIVE

8.1   Recorded in the part two minutes. 

9.0 Balanced Scorecard, including review of performance reporting and productivity update – OFFICIAL SENSITIVE

9.1   Recorded in the part two minutes.

10.0 Forward Look, review of the meeting, blog key points

10.1  The Board agreed dates for the NEDs to attend deep dives into the performance of the Inspectorate’s three major external services.

10.2  The Board agreed key messages for internal blog.

Actions:

10a)  DP to reschedule ‘Examinations’ Board deep dive.

10b)  OM and HK to draft the Board blog.