Section 106: Guidance on the use of planning obligations for Welsh ...

Once planning obligations have been agreed, it is important that they are implemented
or enforced in an efficient and transparent way, in order to ensure that contributions are
spent on their intended purpose and that the associated development contributes to the
sustainability of the area. This will require monitoring by local planning authorities, which
in turn may involve joint-working by different parts of the authority. The use of
standardised systems is recommended, for example, IT databases, in order to ensure
that information on the implementation of planning obligations is readily available to the
local authority, developer and members of the public. Appendix 5 provides an example
of a fully integrated database to manage and monitor planning obligations.
10.4 Some LPAs have found it beneficial to manage the implementation of
obligations through the use of dedicated S.<strong>106</strong> officers. A specialist S.<strong>106</strong>
officer is able to focus all his/her attention on the implementation of
obligations and more able to develop, maintain and be proficient with
obligations monitoring systems. A specialised S.<strong>106</strong> officer who has the
responsibility for all types of obligation across the LPA and other public
bodies is often more able to ensure that obligations policies are applied
and enforced consistently across all developments. In other cases LPAs
have combined the role of dealing with the implementation of obligations
with a wider planning enforcement role.
10.5 Some LPAs take a project management approach to the processing of
planning obligations where for individual applications the timetable and
work stages are clearly set out and triggers are established to provide
early warnings of approaching work. This approach can help to ensure
that the LPA and all the relevant public bodies deliver their obligations and
that any underperformance in the timetable or standards is addressed at
an early stage and resolved.
Monitoring the implementation of planning obligations
10.6 The kinds of tasks an effective obligations monitoring system should be
able to support include:
• responding to enquiries about the current status of obligations;
• providing information on the type and amounts of agreed obligations
compared to what has been implemented and what still needs to be
implemented;
• input of new details about obligations where changes occur over time;
• input of information by staff from different areas of the authority;
• access to contact details for all stakeholders involved;
• storage of all documents related to the development/application and
obligation to be accessed;
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