Report - London Borough of Hillingdon

in the foreseeable future that charging for pre-application advice would apply to this
Council’s own development schemes.
17. As regards (B) above, whilst there are clear merits in the single, flat rate
charge levied by Westminster - not least from an administrative viewpoint - it is
considered appropriate to charge variable fees that go some way towards reflecting
the actual costs of providing the service in question. This is not to suggest that
detailed hourly or even half-hourly charging rates are set and then applied for a wide
range of officers - this would be difficult to administer - but that standard initial fees
are levied for particular types of development with additional charges applied by
virtue of the attendance of senior managers at pre-application meetings. This
approach would resemble the charging models of Barnet and Hammersmith and
Fulham and reflect the amount of time spent by the case officer (and specialist
officers) in researching the history of undertaking a site visit; identifying the relevant
London Plan and Council policies and standards; assessing proposals against these
policies and standards; holding a meeting with the prospective applicants; and
providing a detailed written response in the light of any plans provided and the
associated discussions. For follow-up meetings the equivalent principles would
apply, that is the charging of standard fees supplemented by additional charges
arising from the attendance of senior managers at these meetings.
18. The recommended charging regime for Hillingdon is as set out in Appendix 1.
It has been formulated in the context of charges levied by other boroughs as well as
estimates of staff costs on a selection of recent major development schemes. The
fees received would be used to further improve the pre-application advice service.
19. As regards (C) above, it is recommended that charging for pre-application
advice for major development proposals is introduced at the earliest opportunity but
only after the Director of Planning and Development is satisfied all the requisite
guidance is in place, adequate publicity has been given to the new regime and
staffing resources ensure a wholly professional service. These caveats should not
give rise to any notable delays since guidance is already in preparation and staffing
resources are at a level which is considered to be satisfactory. Similarly, it is not
anticipated that publicity will delay implementation since this is also in preparation
and it is not proposed to give substantial advance warning of the new regime since
this may very well trigger a flurry of requests for pre-application advice in advance of
the commencement date.
20. It recommended that the guidance notes on the charging regime make it clear
that fees must always be paid in full prior to any pre-application advice of any
description being given. This is the practice of other boroughs and it is clearly
essential if the charging regime is to function as intended. At a more general level -
over and above specifying the charging rates - it is proposed that the guidance notes
set out the nature of the service being offered and the information that prospective
applicants should seek to provide to assist Group officers in providing a
comprehensive and authoritative response. Crucially, the notes will stress that,
notwithstanding the introduction of charging, the advice provided cannot be taken to
prejudice the formal decision of the Council on any subsequent application. This last
point should not give rise to particular difficulties since all developers know - or
PART 1 – MEMBERS, PUBLIC AND PRESS
Cabinet report 10 th November 2005 Page 234