Delegated planning decisions

Planning decisions can be made by officers or by Planning Committee. 

Planning Committee

We have 3 Planning Committees: 

• Cambridge City Council Planning Committee
• South Cambridgeshire District Council Planning Committee
• Joint Development Management Committee (JDMC) which is administered by Cambridge City Council.

Each of the 3 Planning Committees has its own adopted scheme of delegation which sets out decisions that designated officers can make on behalf of the Councils.

Delegated decisions

Decisions on the majority of planning applications are delegated to officers without the need for them to be decided at Planning Committee. 

Delegated decisions are considered by the case officer who outlines their recommendations, and reasons behind the recommendations. Their report is checked by a senior officer before a decision is agreed and issued.

By operating a scheme of delegation, decisions are made in good time, in line with statutory target dates, and the Planning Committees can concentrate on larger proposals.

Schemes of delegation

The Cambridge City scheme of delegation can be found in the Cambridge City Council Constitution  in section 8.1 on page 84. The Scheme of Delegation agree by the Joint Development Control Committee can be found on page 80 of the same document. 

The South Cambridgeshire scheme of delegation can be found in the South Cambridgeshire District Council Constitution in part 4, rules and procedures.  

The minutes for the latest delegation meetings can be found below: