Bristol planning backlog grows as council struggles to hire enforcement officers

Bristol City Council faces a growing backlog of planning enforcement cases while struggling to recruit the staff needed to manage them.

Chief Planner Simone Wilding told the economy and skills policy committee on November 2 that the department is dealing with a national shortage of enforcement officers. She stated that the council has used innovative methods, including public practice, to hire one person after failing to fill posts in previous recruitment rounds. Wilding described the effort to build the team as a medium to long-term process, noting that she hopes internal staff may step up to fill gaps.

The council received an extra budget of 300,000 pounds in February. This funding allowed the salary for the most senior enforcement role to be increased, though pay for other officers remained unchanged. The department is currently seeking two principal planning enforcement officers with salaries between 48,738 pounds and 51,928 pounds. A new enforcement lead officer started work two months ago but was on leave during the committee meeting.

Criticism emerged over the council's approach to pay and recruitment. Green Councillor Guy Poultney argued that the council needs to match the rates offered by other local authorities to attract candidates. He pointed to Somerset Council, which is hiring for a similar role at 56,528 pounds. Poultney stated, "We've tried nothing, it's not worked, so we're not going to try anything else. If the problem is we can't attract enforcement officers and there's a shortage of them, surely we need to offer a higher rate in order to attract more people in, so that we're paying the same as other local authorities?"

Wilding countered that pay is not the only issue, citing a massive national shortage and fairness questions regarding pay scales across the department. She noted that the private sector often pays more for planning roles and that high housing costs in Bristol contribute to young people leaving the city.

The number of live enforcement cases in Bristol has more than doubled from 291 in 2016 to 719 this year. Meanwhile, the number of cases closed annually has declined. Recent examples include landlords converting homes into HMOs without permission and a new gym in a warehouse. Labour Councillor Louis Martin expressed concern about a specific case in his ward, stating, "We have a gym that's continuing to run without planning permission, it's been refused twice and it had a planning enforcement notice. I'm concerned that we haven't been able to fill those roles yet, considering we now have the funding for that."

The Kulture Training Club in Fishponds opened without planning permission, leading to neighbor complaints about early morning noise. The council issued an enforcement notice ordering the gym to close. The owners are currently appealing the notice to the government's Planning Inspectorate, a process that could take several more months. Wilding expressed optimism that the council has a strong case for the appeal.