Reform and political donations

Opening up the files on political donations is essential for a transparent planning system, campaigners claim.  Peter Cheney and Stephen Dineen examine Friends of the Earth’s case for change.

Disclosing political donations is a key step to opening the planning system up to proper scrutiny, according to a Friends of the Earth-commissioned survey.  Planners, developers, politicians and the public suspect that corruption in planning is commonplace.

Geraint Ellis, a senior lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast’s Institute of Spatial and Environmental Planning, undertook the survey between May and August 2011.  A total of 544 responses were received and its aim was to gather the views of the policy community.

Citizens did make up the largest group (48.3 per cent of responses) but the sample also represents developers and agents (79 responses), politicians

(79 responses) and the DoE’s own planners (34 responses).

Key findings included:

•    75.6 per cent believe that the relationship between developers and planners is too close;

•    67.3 per cent believe that the planning system rarely or never serves the people of Northern Ireland; and

•    tackling corruption is seen as one of the most important factors in planning reform.

Written comments indicated “very low morale” among planners, “interference from politicians” and developers’

“disproportionate influence” over planning decisions.  Many of these concerns, it claimed, “have largely been by-passed in [the] policy and legislative reform of the last 20 years”.

The survey concluded that there was an “imperative need for a full investigation” into the conduct of politicians in planning “if only to dismiss such perceptions and help rebuild confidence in the planning system.”

Speaking to agendaNi, Ellis noted that “more than actual planning reforms, [the survey] gives an insight into political funding in Northern Ireland.”  While donor information is still confidential, he considered it likely that developers were the main funders of political parties, as that sector drove economic development over the last 10 years.

“Of all decisions that politicians can make, planning decisions are very vulnerable to accusations of corruption,” Ellis notes.  Planners reported that politicians were overriding their professional advice, to make sure that developers’ plans were passed.  Clientelism obviously turns into corruption when money changes hands.

Part of the solution, in his view, lay in allowing third party appeals and requiring decision-makers to explain why an approved development is in the public interest (reasons are always given for refusals).

Safeguards

“I think we have a culture where planning was not accepted by the political establishment in Northern Ireland,” Friends of the Earth’s Northern Ireland Director James Orr comments.  “Planning was seen as a bureaucratic obstacle to be overcome rather than a defining principle of how society should organise.”

This goes back to the formation of a centralised Planning Service in 1972, with no democratic control under direct rule.  Now, Northern Ireland has a “very immature political democracy” and he thinks that it will take 10 years for the system to mature and for the right checks and balances to be put in place.

Planning also requires regulation “and a lot of people don’t like the word regulation.”  It is seen as getting in the way of business, even though a planning system “creates consistency for business to flourish.”

In principle, Friends of the Earth backs the transfer of planning powers to councillors as “the best decisions will happen when policy is formulated and implemented at the most local level.”  However, it will only support that move when two safeguards are put in place: a statutory code of conduct for councillors and disclosure of political party donors.

The DoE plans to introduce a statutory code when the planning powers transfer to councils.  A voluntary code, issued in 1992 and revised in 2003, suggests that councillors declare gifts, hospitality and any financial interests, but has no penalties for breaches.  In contrast, Scottish, English and Welsh councillors can be censured, suspended or even disqualified from office if they break their codes.

Political party finance is a Northern Ireland Office responsibility.  “Until that anonymity is removed, people will have this perception that it’s a loaded game in favour of the wealthy,” Orr states.  Politicians need to say: “‘Look, this is who is funding us’ and once we know that then we can move on.”

The DoE’s own customer service survey for 2010-2011 found 61 per cent satisfaction in the planning system, based on 1,032 returns (out of 3,324 customers).

When this finding is put to him, he points out that this was solely a survey of applicants, using a “very liberalised planning system”.  In 2010-2011, 89.3 per cent of all applications in Northern Ireland were approved, and people will inevitably support the process when a favourable decision goes through.

The Electoral Commission has called for donor disclosure “as soon as is practical”.  The DUP and UUP are currently opposed, citing security reasons.  Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance, TUV and the Greens support disclosure, pointing out that the Executive consistently promotes Northern Ireland as a safe location to visit and invest in.  Alliance and the Greens have also voluntarily published their donors.

While Friends of the Earth often objects to planning decisions, he explains that it has a vision for a better, plan-led planning system and believes “passionately” in planning.

“There’s a massive perception of corruption, by this survey, amongst not just developers but amongst politicians themselves and most notably the planners,” Orr remarks.  “There’s a very significant response from planners and they were saying the same thing.  They want the relationship between politics and planning and power to be cleaned up in Northern Ireland.”

Report corruption: Attwood

Whistle-blowing planning officers will be protected, Environment Minister Alex Attwood has stressed.  The Minister wants to know “of any allegation of corruption or other attempts to irregularly or unreasonably influence planning decisions,” a DoE spokesman confirmed to agendaNi.

The Planning Service was subsumed into the DoE last April and renamed as DoE Planning.  Responding to the perception of corruption, the spokesman said that the DoE “welcomes” the Friends of Earth survey and “is committed to the highest possible standards of openness, probity and accountability in the delivery of its services.”  All allegations of fraud, he continued, are investigated in line with the department’s anti-fraud policies and reported to the Northern Ireland Audit Office.