Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

Figure 6.11 – Kilometres of Road per Roads Staff Employee, end-2009
10 .7
10. 9
15. 4
1 6. 7
18 .6
Ma yo Ke rr y Co rk G alwa y Do neg al
Source: Survey of County and City Councils, 2010
6.10 Planning
6.10.1 The planning function accounts for over 1,700 staff across all local
authorities. This level has been built up to cater for levels of demand which
have fallen off considerably in recent years. Traditionally, increases and
reductions in demand for development management and the processing of
planning applications tend to correspond closely with the overall economic
climate. While the volume of planning applications has declined
significantly, there remains an ongoing workload in the areas of forward
planning and planning enforcement, where the latter in particular requires a
significant number of inspections and investigations (see section 10.4).
Notwithstanding this, it is reasonable to expect that the current levels of
resourcing for planning staff and administrative support in the development
management role should decline significantly.
6.10.2 The Croke Park agreement provides for the redeployment of staff within
local authorities, across local authorities, and between local authorities and
the wider public service. The agreement will enable local authorities to
move staff within functions as required, including the ability to move
technical staff into administrative areas and vice versa, qualifications
permitting. Based on an estimate of a 10% reduction in staffing levels, up to
171 staff would be available for redeployment from the planning function
across the 34 local authorities. This level of reduction might need to be
moderated in circumstances where the levels of enforcement and related
work significantly exceed expected levels. However the long-term target
across the sector should remain a 10% reduction in staffing levels in the
planning function.
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