Harrow Council Overhauls Planning Procedures and Councillor Conduct Rules

Harrow Council Overhauls Planning Procedures and Councillor Conduct Rules

Harrow Council has approved significant updates to its constitution, including revised planning procedures and a strengthened code of conduct for councillors, aimed at enhancing efficiency and transparency.

The council meeting on Thursday, October 1, 2026, saw councillors vote on a series of amendments designed to align the council's governance with new government legislation and internal reviews. These updates are primarily driven by new government planning reforms introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025.

Key changes to planning procedures include the introduction of a National Scheme of Delegation and mandatory training for councillors serving on planning committees. The size of the Planning Committee has also been capped at 13 members. These measures are intended to improve efficiency and fairness in decision-making processes, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the reports pack (Public reports pack Thursday 01-Oct-2026 18.30 Council.pdf).

The Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 underpin these revisions. Specifically, the Planning Committee's Terms of Reference have been updated to include the committee size limit of 13 members. Furthermore, the requirement for councillors to undergo mandatory, standardised training before sitting on and determining applications has been strengthened. The Chief Planning Officer has also been added as a statutory post to oversee planning functions, as required by the new regulations.

Additionally, the Part 5E Planning Protocol has been updated to remove the right of Members to call-in applications, bringing it up to date with the new regulations.

Further constitutional revisions were made to the Code of Corporate Governance, the Social Media Protocol, and Council Procedure Rules. The Code of Corporate Governance has been updated in line with the CIPFA/SOLACE publication Delivering Good Governance in Local Government 2016 Framework. The Council Procedure Rules have been amended so that councillors' voting records will now appear on their individual profiles.

During the debate on the constitutional changes, Councillor Peymana Assad raised concerns about the code of conduct's adequacy in protecting female councillors from abuse and sought clarity on the handling of anonymous complaints. Councillor Paul Osborne, Leader of the Council, stated he would look into the concerns regarding female councillors and ensure the Monitoring Officer provided an answer on anonymous complaints.

Regarding anonymous complaints, the Making a Complaint about a Councillor document (Appendix 8) clarifies that The authority does not normally investigate anonymous complaints, unless there is a clear public interest in doing so. Councillor Osborne indicated he was unaware of the specifics but would follow up.

These constitutional updates were also prompted by internal reviews. A new Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Sub-Committee was established following an inadequate judgment in the Inspection of Local Authority Children's Services. A new protocol on the use of council resources was adopted, and the procedure for dealing with member complaints was amended to include additional filtering criteria and the introduction of a Standards Sub-Committee, influenced by recommendations from independent investigators.

While the mandatory training for planning committee councillors is now a requirement, the specific topics covered in this training are not detailed in the provided text.