| 1. Develop Working Procedures for Planning and Development Application Processing (Design Effectiveness) | Overall Rating:Low |
| Impact: | Low | Likelihood: | Likely |
| Observation: While the Official Plan and Planning Act provide guidance on how to process planning and development applications, Internal Audit noted that currently the Planning Department has working procedures for Site Plan Control applications; however there are no working procedures/guidelines established for reference to the staff (clerks, customer service representatives, etc) for the other applications. Such procedures would provide a list of items to review/consider while reviewing and processing the applications. |
| Implication: Key steps in the application processing phase may be missed such as gathering of necessary information, documentation, recording information in the system/retaining information in physical form, and performing required consultations. |
| Possible root cause:Complex and subjective nature of applications may have deterred development of procedures manual while reliance was placed on on the job training and experience of senior members of the team to provide guidance. |
| Recommendation:The Planning and Development Services Department should develop procedures for each of the different types of application that will provide guidance to staff on key steps to follow in the application receipt, processing, and approval process. This will minimize the risk of key requirements in terms of studies/analysis, and considerations being missed for a given application, and will also set a minimum standard of requirements for the staff in terms of retention of documentation and information, either manually or through a system. |
| Management Action Plan |
| Management agrees with the findings and recommendations listed above. Administration will work with key staff responsible to identify key procedures for the various types of development applications. Additionally, the procedures will be shared with appropriate staff to ensure there is a better understanding of their involvement in the review and processing of development applications. | Responsible Party: | City Planner; Manager of Urban Design; Manager of Planning Policy |
| Due Date: | Q3 2020 |