Council to pay out £450k in refunds to 1,000 applicants after admitting 'major failings'

A decade of ‘major failings’ in Bolton’s planning service has left the council with a potential £450,000 bill to pay hundreds of applicants who were not given refunds they were entitled to. Under planning law, applicants should be offered an automatic refund if their case was not decided within a set period and no extension has been agreed.

However, from 2013 until November 2023, ‘an absence of key governance and control arrangements’ within the authority’s planning function meant no refunds were offered to planning applicants who did not have their application decided within 26 weeks. The issue only came to light after a member of the public informed council leaders of their obligations under current legislation.

After receiving this information in November last year, Bolton council leader Nick Peel ordered an audit investigation into why the process had not been followed. The report concluded that the council had not properly implemented a refund process when the planning legislation changed in 2013.

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The authority is now in the process of contacting previous applicants to identify those who are eligible for a refund. Around 1,000 applications could fall into the category for refunds with one developer owed as much as £96,000.

The council said the highest possible potential financial risk to the council had been calculated at £450,000. They said that was a ‘worst case scenario’ and the final figure could be significantly lower.

Bolton Council has faced significant budgetary pressure in recent years and has made tens of million pounds worth of cuts over the past five years. The council’s chief executive said an allowance had been budgeted from the council’s cash reserves covering ‘risks’ to pay for the refunds to planning applicants.

The council did not comment on whether any staff had been subject to disciplinary action after the matter came to light. Following the review of the planning service, the council said matters had now improved.

It has reduced the number of open planning cases by nearly 1,000 from its peak during the pandemic, and introduced a series of new measures designed to streamline the application process. Coun Peel said: “There were some major failings within our planning service.

“This revelation that came last year was potentially so damaging that it was hard to see how the planning service could recover. The good news is it has.

“Actions to massively improve the service started then and the it’s now massively superior to what it was. Members used to be inundated with complaints about delays in planning on a daily basis and now that’s next to nothing.

“So out of what was a really serious issue there has been some positive outcomes. This council is fully committed to openness and transparency.

“While these issues have been going on for some time, it is under this administration that they have been brought to light and corrected. We now begin the process of ensuring a refund is given to everyone entitled to receive one, and we will be open and transparent about the final amount.”