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Bridgend Council’s Communities, Environment & Housing Scrutiny Committee will review BCBC’s response to an Audit Wales report which criticised BCBC’s lack of focus on planning services (pdf).
The Audit Wales report, which was published in November 2025 (pdf), didn’t raise any concerns about how planning applications were handled. However, several issues were picked up, including:
- Limited understanding of the role the planning department plays in helping the council meet its objectives. This includes council departments not engaging with planning officers early enough for their own planning proposals (one recent example being the row over heat pumps at a Brackla care home).
- The planning service has missed income targets, and they are too reliant on planning fee income (which can be erratic). £365,000 of one-off funding from the council’s reserves was awarded instead of a permanent budget increase, meaning the extra funds quickly ran out.
- An over-reliance on agency staff to fill vacant posts.
- A “complete lack” of service planning, so it’s unclear how senior officers and managers are aware of performance, priorities and risks.
- No analysis of how the planning department performs compared to the rest of Wales.
In response to the Audit Wales report, additional funding will be provided to fill vacant posts and create additional supporting backroom roles to ease pressure on planning officers. The planning department will also be able to keep more of the income it raises in fees.
The current and expected work of planning officers will be monitored more closely, with any potential risks to the service identified early (along with spending estimates).
It’s expected that all of this will be in place by autumn 2026.
