The Planning Service is an

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

within the

Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland) The Department of the Environment (DOE or DOENI; ga, An Roinn Comhshaoil; Ulster-Scots: ''Männystrie o tha Kintraside'') was a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall respon ...

, which regulates the

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

and the use of land in the

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefore ...

Origins

The Town and Country Planning Service was established in 1973 when the responsibilities of the local planning authorities briefly passed to the Ministry of Development and then to the Department of Housing,

Local Government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

and Planning before being assimilated into the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. The Department's

statutory planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

functions are currently contained in the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 and associated subordinate

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

. The Town and Country Planning Service became an Executive Agency (known as "the Planning Service") of the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland on 1 April 1996. Following devolution of authority to the Northern Ireland Executive in 1998, the "Department of The Environment for Northern Ireland" was renamed "The Department of The Environment". Some of the functions previously undertaken by the "old" Department were transferred to other Northern Ireland Departments. Planning Service remains an Executive within the Department of The Environment.

Functions

* Provide

operational An operational definition specifies concrete, replicable procedures designed to represent a construct. In the words of American psychologist S.S. Stevens (1935), "An operation is the performance which we execute in order to make known a concept." F ...

planning policy, Development Plans and high quality professional planning decisions. * Improve delivery of services, having regard to the effective use of available resources, Section 75 of and Schedule 9 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and associated

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

policies. * Improve the

quality Quality may refer to: Concepts *Quality (business), the ''non-inferiority'' or ''superiority'' of something *Quality (philosophy), an attribute or a property *Quality (physics), in response theory *Energy quality, used in various science discipli ...

of services available to customers in line with the principles of Service First - The New Charter Programme and the Agency’s Charter Standards Statement. * Provide an accurate and speedy land and property information service to the

conveyancing In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

community * Ensure that Development Plans, Planning Policies and Development Control promote the orderly and consistent use of land. * Obtain

best value Best Value was government policy in the United Kingdom affecting the provision of public services in England and Wales. In Wales, Best Value is known as the Wales Programme for Improvement. A statutory duty of Best Value applies in Scotland.Audi ...

and efficiency in the management of the Agency. * Develop and maintain effective financial and management information systems * Maintain high levels of motivation, skills and performance of staff * Explore opportunities for and introduce, where practicable, Public Private Partnership arrangements

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Planning Service homepage
Northern Ireland Executive