Innovative approaches to planning

Fife Planning Performance Framework Case Study: COVID 19 Response

Context

Fife’s response to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Who was involved?

General Public and Authority Planning Staff

What did they do?

Back in October 2019 the Planning Service undertook a Business Continuity exercise. In early March 2020 the learning from the exercise was reviewed and they began to put in place alternative communication networks for our teams.

The service recognised planning’s role in economic recovery and therefore the need to keep the planning service running through lockdown. Two of the four teams were identified as being critical to the continued operation of the service- The Priority Applications Team and The Gateway Team. Monthly management team meetings were replaced with twice weekly contingency planning meetings.

Outcome

Due to a high level of capability for digital working, established practices in terms of change and risk management, and significant levels of empowerment and trust, the Planning Service was able to respond to the challenge of working through COVID-19 restrictions.

Contribution to planning

The improvements to e-planning and a motivated flexible workforce enabled the Planning Service to rise to the challenge of the unprecedented situation arising from COVID-19.

For more information

Planning Performance Framework case study pg. 27: https://hopscotland.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/planning-performance-framework-report-2019-20-fife-council2.pdf

Key themes: COVID-19, recovery, economic outcomes, digital working, risk management, empowerment, continuous improvement, governance, good practice, skills and knowledge