Principal Planning Enforcement Officer

The Principal Planning Enforcement Officer will be the lead professional officer responsiblefor the effective delivery of an effective planning enforcement function across the countyas a whole. In doing so the officer will be directly responsible for their own caseload of themore complex planning enforcement cases, as well as managing the processing andconsideration of all other planning enforcement cases/appeals by other officers.

• Support the Planning and Development Services Manager in delivering a
planning enforcement service that meets the objectives and operating principles of Shropshire as a responsible authority as well as statutory requirements.
• Be responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, and improving the
delivery of the function.
• Be a key member of the Development Management team, available to support
the development and delivery of the Council's statutory and discretionary regulatory functions in respect of planning enforcement and development management, and to ensure that specialist advice on these functions is provided to other teams and service areas across the Council when required.
• To provide direct line management support to (but not limited to) Senior Planning
Enforcement Officers, Planning Enforcement Officers and Technical Support Officer, including the assessment of individual and team performance against agreed shared and personal targets.
• Develop sustainable working relationships with customers and stakeholders to
realise the benefits of effective communication and transformed service delivery.Who will your manager be and what will you be responsiblefor?You will be:
• reporting to the Planning and Development Services Manager who is in turn
responsible for your health and safety, training and development.
• responsible and accountable for up to 5 FTE members of staff, acting in a
supervisory/managerial capacity, monitoring performance, supporting development and undertaking annual appraisals.
• expected to lead and/or contribute to a range of projects and build relations with
both internal and external partners in order achieve specified outcomes but will not have direct authority over those involved.
• Responsible for preparing responses in line with Shropshire Council's corporate
processes and national/regulatory/statutory processes (e.g. complaints, MP enquiries, Information Governance requests, customer enquiries, media enquiries, HR staff investigations etc..). These responses should be in line with the quality and timescale expectations set out within Shropshire Council's published procedures and/or case allocation emails and discussions.
• Responsible for completing within expected timescales all mandatory corporate
and role specific training. Training requirements will be detailed in your corporate induction and Personal Development Plan (PDP). Courses are accessed via the council Learning Management System via the Intranet.,
• Deputise, as required for the Planning and Development Services Manager in his
or her managerial, supervisory and reporting duties relating to planning enforcement and contributing to the overall smooth running and effectiveness of the wider team.
• Undertake day to day management of a team of professional planning
enforcement and business support officers across the County.
• Case management of complex planning enforcement cases including evaluation
of evidence, liaison with appropriate colleagues and external agencies, preparation of reports with recommendations for delegated decisions and appropriate action.
• Preparing reports, attending Committees, court hearings, public inquiries and site
and other meetings as required by the Planning and Development Services Manager, including the presentation of evidence.
• Developing and implementing new operational procedures and working with
colleagues and key stakeholders to drive forward change and realise the potential of the planning enforcement service.
• Attend and present reports to planning committee relating to planning enforcement
cases and matters as required.
• To provide complex and specialist planning enforcement advice to a range of
stakeholders as required.
• To input data and operate the Development Management and information
management IT systems as appropriate.
• The postholder will be required from time to time to undertake other duties
appropriate to the post, not specifically mentioned in this job description, in connection with the provision of a comprehensive development management service.The above duties are an illustrative outline and are not an exhaustive list. You will beexpected to become involved in a range of work to enable the service to respond effectivelyto the changing requirements of the Council and changes affecting the workforce.What we expect of youYou will:
• adopt a customer focused approach when delivering your service, ensuring
engagement with service users and maintenance of an appropriate personal profile,
• act as an advocate for your service and work collaboratively with
colleagues across the whole Council to meet the needs of the people of Shropshire,
• meet individual, service and personal development targets agreed through
the Personal Development Review Process, learn from experience and are committed to continuous improvement individually and as an employee of the Council,
• work with colleagues to meet your team's key performance indicators,
support a culture of team working and ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Council's corporate and service objectives.
• meet the behaviours and competencies adopted by the Council in the way
in which they achieve their objectives and carry out their work.
• A priority for the Council is the protection of vulnerable people, ensuring
they are able to live as independently as possible. The post-holder will promote and engage with Council's responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children, young people and adults, and protect their right to be safe from harm.
• Expected to undertake all relevant training requirements specifically to the
role including formal Hearing / Investigating Officer training relating to Disciplinary / Grievance policies and procedures.What are your conditions of ServiceThe conditions of service are those laid down by Shropshire Council, which have beenadopted and amended as necessary from those laid down by the National Joint Councilfor Local Government Services.Your primary work base will be at Guildhall, Shrewsbury with the requirement to regularlywork from home.

Where your role fits at Shropshire CouncilAs Shropshire Council we are rightly proud of our achievements and we have proven tobe a resilient local authority in our response to the many challenges we overcome,particularly over recent years. We will be continuing this momentum with ambition and afocus on delivering our four key priorities outlined within the Shropshire Plan: HealthyPeople, Healthy Environment, Health Economy and Healthy Organisation.We are committed to achieving this by aligning everything we do to our vision 'Shropshire- living the best life'; to tell everyone that Shropshire Council is a great place to be.We will enable a skilled, happy, healthy, diverse, inclusive, empowered, and proudworkforce that influences and leads change, addressing any inequalities.As a member of the Planning Enforcement Team within the Place Shaping ServiceDirectorate, you will support the achievement of these key priorities, making a realdifference to the lives of people in Shropshire.The Planning Enforcement Team at Shropshire Council is committed to delivering anefficient, effective and consistent service across the county as a whole. The number ofplanning related enforcement cases is generally over 500 each year, ranging in scale fromsignificant unauthorised development to small technical breaches of regulations. Thegeographic area of the county is huge and the range of more local environments anddemographics within it reflect this. The challenge for the team moving forward is tocontinue to perform whilst also constantly looking at ways to improve and evolve, and thepostholder will play an important role in this ambition.


• The post is Permanent, for 37 hours per week,
• Normal office hours are 7am - 7pm Monday - Friday and 8am -1pm
Saturday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes. Occasional evening/weekend work may be required,
• The post is subject to the Council's annualised hours scheme as
implemented within the specific work area.This post carries eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. Informationabout this will be sent with any formal offer of appointment.Annual leave entitlement is a pro rata flat rate scheme of 207 hours (28 days) annualleave plus bank holidays, with five days extra awarded to those staff with five years localgovernment service giving an entitlement of 244 hours (33 days). Two days of anemployee's allowance (pro rota for part time staff) must be taken at Christmas for anypotential Christmas closures. Employees who work in a building/service which is requiredto open over the Christmas period, the two days leave (pro rota) can be carried over intoyour next leave year but must be used by the end of March.The appointment is subject to three months' notice in writing on either side.The appointment is subject to six months' satisfactory probationary service during whichtime the notice period will be one week on either side.Smoking is not allowed in Council buildings, in Council vehicles or in any Council place ofwork.It is a condition of your appointment that you provide a suitable vehicle for theperformance of your duties and that this is readily available for use during normalworking hours. You are entitled to claim for reimbursement of the costs of travel oncouncil business at the rate of 45 pence per mile.What pre-employment checks will we undertake?The appointment is subject to receipt of the following pre-employment checks; 1. Satisfactory employment references, 2. Medical report, 3. Evidence of the qualifications required for the post/listed on your application form.