Agenda item

This report sets out a proposal from the London Borough of Brent (LLB) to provide a service investigating planning infringements committed by those who have benefited financially from their breaches, carrying out financial investigations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) and providing advocacy services in subsequent legal proceedings on behalf of the London Borough of Harrow (LBH). 

TheBoardreceiveda reportwhichset outa proposalfor theLondonBoroughofBrentto providea serviceinvestigatingplanning infringementscommittedby those who had benefitedfinancially fromtheirbreaches, offering aplanning enforcementofficer, afinancial investigatorto carryout financialinvestigationunderthe proceedsofCrimeAct (POCA)andprovideadvocacyservicesin subsequent legal proceedings on behalf of the London Boroughof Harrow.

Themeetingwasadvisedthatdiscussions hadtakenplacewithBrent andHarrowmanagementasto themostappropriatewayto developthisproposal.  Theofficerssuggestedthat,iftheBoardwasminded tosupportthe proposals,there wouldbe furtherconsultationwithHarrowofficers andappropriateMembers to ascertain whether Harrow wished to proceed.

The ServiceManager advisedthe meetingthat thescheme haddelivered significantincome toBrent andTrading Standardsfor anumber ofyears andit hadbeen successfullyoffering theirfinancial investigationservice toother boroughs.Although theexisting Harrowplanning policystated thatit wouldseek touse POCAwhere evidencesuggested thatthe breachof planningcontrol had given rise to significantfinancial gain, it was believed that onlyone casehad beenput forwardand thisinvestigation wasongoing. Itwas furtherstated thatHarrow alreadycontributed tothe FinancialInvestigation Teamresource byway ofthe consortiumfees andwould potentiallyreceive incomedue tothe HomeOfficer incentivisationscheme wherebylocal authoritiesretained apercentage ofall successfulconfiscation ordersthat theyobtain, whenthey were paid.In orderto assistHarrow to fundthe proposal overa 12month period,it wasfurther proposedthat approximately£40k underspendheld byBrent fromthe lasttwo financialyears 2015-17be usedfor thispurpose.

The ServiceManager describedthe proposedprocess and outlinedsuccessful ordersmade underPOCA legislationand themoney raised.He suggestedthat asample ofcases betaken forwardin thefirst year,to enablethe resultsto bemonitored, amodel tobe setup andtrialled andincome would be raised in the longer term.

The DivisionalDirector –Commissioning Servicesstated thatwhilst discussionshad beenongoing, theproposals hadnot yetbeen formallydiscussed withHarrow planningofficers whichwould bethe nextstep ifthe proposalwas of interestto Harrow.The underspendreferred toby theService Managerwould coverBrent’s costsinproviding thestaffing resourceto deliver this work onHarrow’s behalf.

A Memberof theBoard suggestedthat discussionsalso beheldwith thehousing team.In responseto aquestion asto whetherthe proposalwould impactthe serviceBrent receivedfrom theenforcement team,the ServiceManager statedthat whilstthere wouldbe pressureon theBrent team,the feecharged toHarrow couldbe reinvestedto Brentto backfillstaff time.The proposalhad beendiscussed fora numberof yearsand itnow neededto moveforward toa formalfooting. Asthe incomefrom POCAwould bereinvested back into the Services, it would becost neutral in the longterm.

The OperationalDirector informedthe Boardthat inBrent themoney raisedthrough POCAwas alsoshared withplanning colleagueswho hadbeen ableto paythe salary costs oftwo Enforcement Officers fromthis income.

RESOLVED: That theHarrow DivisionalDirector forCommissioning progressdiscussion withthe HarrowPortfolio Holderfor Business,Planning andRegeneration aswell aswith officersin planningand housingto determine whether Harrow wished to implement thisproposal.