Doncaster Council

About the Code of Conduct and Role of Officers

The majority of the Council's Development Control Officers are members of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). The RTPI has a Code of Professional Conduct, the contents of which all Members must honour.

In addition to this, the Council also has a Local Code of Conduct for the Discharge of Planning Functions. The points that relate specifically to Planning Officers and are outlined below:

The Role of Officers 

1. The overriding duty of all employees is to the Council and, through it, the community and not to any individual or group. All employees must act, and be seen to act, with total impartiality at all times.
2. All employees of the Council who have regular contact with elected Members (professionally or otherwise) should notify the Executive Director of Development and Transport of any application for planning permission made by or on their behalf or affecting any property in which they have an interest and the Executive Director shall refer the application to the Panel for decision.
3. No employee of the Council who has submitted an application or whose property is subject to an application shall take part in the processing of that application and shall not approach any elected member or officer in furtherance of it.
4. Any employee involved with the processing of planning applications or the development of planning policies who has a close personal relationship or family connection with any consultancy, agency, developer, construction company or land or property owner which operates in the locality and has an interest in a planning application or development should disclose such relationship or connection to the Executive Director of Development and Transport.
5. In pre-application discussions with potential developers and in negotiating planning obligations and conditions, officers should make it clear that they have no authority to bind the Council. An accurate contemporaneous note of any meeting should be made.