Carmarthenshire Council spent more than £200,000 on private companies to process planning applications and enforcement cases over the last four years because it was struggling to do the work. The new head of the planning service, Rhodri Griffiths, said there had been significant improvements in recent months and that it was not using private companies at present.
Planning officers determine numerous applications a year, with planning committees made up of councillors often responsible for larger schemes. Enforcement officers, meanwhile, look into breaches of planning control.
The council, in response to a Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said it spent £182,123 and £4,078 on two firms - Prospero Planning and Asbri Planning - to process planning applications between April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2022. It paid Randstad Solutions Ltd £24,892 in relation to enforcement casework. You can get more Carmarthenshire news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
