On paper, things looked okay.
National performance indicators suggested that East Riding of Yorkshire Council's planning service was operating reasonably well. The metrics were steady.
But talk to the people doing the work and there was a different story.
Staff were facing sustained pressure, uncertainty and exhaustion. Customers were beginning to express dissatisfaction. Work in progress felt overwhelming, even though the headline statistics weren't signalling concern.
The service was delivering.
But it was doing so at a growing human cost.
Over 18 months, Mondrem worked alongside East Riding of Yorkshire Council to understand what was happening beneath those headline numbers and make practical changes that strengthened performance, wellbeing and financial resilience – without increasing headcount.
When the numbers don't tell the whole story
One of the biggest challenges was visibility.
The service was operating within financial constraint and increased scrutiny, but there wasn't a clear, shared view of demand and capacity.
The true scale of undecided applications and accumulated work in progress wasn't fully visible.
And if you can't clearly see the pressure, it's very difficult to understand what's causing it.
Over time, leadership structures and operational processes had evolved without deliberate redesign. Different ways of working had emerged. Informal workarounds had become embedded. Roles and decision-making responsibilities had become blurred.
There was also concern about potential exposure to planning fee refunds where statutory timescales weren't met – a significant risk during wider council financial constraint.
The system was working.
But not optimally. And not sustainably.
Listening to what people were experiencing
The people within the service were giving important signals too.
A structured service health check identified recurring themes of uncertainty, unfairness and exhaustion.
Staff survey data was measured on a 1–5 scale, where 5 represented a consistently positive experience.
During periods of sustained pressure, wellbeing scores ranged between 3.55 and 3.90. Workload and enjoyment ratings fluctuated within a similar mid-range band.
These weren't crisis indicators.
But they showed fragility and volatility beneath the surface.
The service was coping. It wasn't operating with stability or confidence.
That contrast between the national performance data and what people were actually experiencing reinforced the need to look deeper.
The pressure wasn't about individuals
This became an important turning point.
Our foundation review created shared clarity and demonstrated that the pressure was systemic, not individual.
In particular, sustained levels of undecided applications and work in progress were creating continuous strain – something the existing reporting didn't fully reveal.
For the first time, leadership and staff had a shared, evidence-based understanding of the service's true position.
And once everyone could see the same picture, they could begin to do something about it.
Creating visibility, discipline and alignment
The work began with a structured foundation review, supported by a clear project charter that defined the purpose, root causes and intended outcomes.
We introduced a data-led operational management approach to bring greater discipline and visibility to performance.
Weekly structured meetings focused on workload, wellbeing, forward pressure and agreed actions.
These weren't meetings for the sake of reporting what had already happened.
They were decision-making sessions.
Actions were tracked. Accountability throughout the service strengthened. Managers and officers took the lead in fixing the operational issues that affected them.
That ownership mattered.
Improvement wasn't something being done to the team. People within the service were increasingly involved in making it happen.
Helping teams understand each other
The work wasn't only about data and workload.
Whole-service roles and responsibilities sessions surfaced duplication, confusion and unnecessary activity. Responsibilities were clarified and redistributed where required.
Shared understanding workshops brought planners, validators, enforcement officers, specialist advisers and administrative colleagues together.
Those conversations helped rebuild connections between teams and reduce long-standing disconnection, leading to more effective and efficient ways of working.
Leadership also moved away from reactive, command-and-control behaviours towards more collaborative, forward-looking working.
A clear service plan, driven by a shared vision, gave people a direction for sustainable improvement.
Creating capacity without adding more people
Alongside the governance and cultural changes, we delivered a focused programme to reduce work in progress and increase productivity.
This unlocked additional operational capacity without increasing staffing numbers.
And the difference in workloads was substantial.
Average caseload per planner reduced from 30 cases, with some officers carrying over 50, to a current maximum of 14.
Workloads became visible, controlled and manageable.
Appeals on the grounds of non-determination reduced to zero.
But perhaps one of the most interesting parts of this story is what East Riding chose to do with the capacity it created.
Part of that restored capacity was reinvested into offering a new Planning Performance Agreements service and redesigning the pre-application advice offer.
Income increased through Planning Performance Agreements.
Earlier prioritisation of pre-application advice improved both customer experience and financial resilience.
And released capacity enabled the planning service to provide project management support to other areas of the council.
The service had moved from reactive pressure to proactive control.
What changed for the people?
Throughout the 18-month programme, staff engagement remained strong.
Wellbeing survey response rates were consistently between 41 and 49 participants per cycle.
Following periods of volatility, wellbeing, workload and enjoyment scores stabilised, reflecting increasing steadiness as operational clarity and workload control improved.
Confidence strengthened incrementally.
Collaboration improved across teams.
There wasn't one initiative that suddenly fixed everything.
The change came through sustained structure, shared ownership and disciplined follow-through.
And in 2025, the service won the RTPI Yorkshire Planning Authority of the Year award and became a national finalist.
Making the change their own
For us, one of the most important parts of the East Riding story is that the change didn't belong to Mondrem.
It belonged to the people in the service.
As Hannah Harne, Head of Planning (Area Planning and Service Delivery) at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, reflected:
“Working with Lucy is a joy. She brings challenge in a kind and supportive way so as individuals and a service we have been able to learn and grow.”
Hannah described how Lucy built trust at all levels of the service and was seen as “one of us” rather than a consultant.
She also reflected on what happened after the work ended:
“Most importantly this has been a change which has endured after our time of working with Mondrem ended.”
Lucy's own reflections tell the other side of that story.
The East Riding team didn't simply follow recommendations.
They tested them. They adapted them. And they made them their own.
As Lucy puts it:
“They grabbed hold of it, iterated again and again, and made it their own.”
That included developing the pre-application offer and building a PPA approach from nothing into something that delivers real value.
And the capacity they created has gone even further.
The planning team is now supporting other parts of the council and acting as an enabler of what the council needs to deliver, rather than being brought in late and seen as a barrier.
From coping to something more sustainable
Today, East Riding's planning service is better equipped to manage uncertainty, financial constraint and fluctuating demand.
Clearer leadership, defined responsibilities and improved operational discipline have created a more stable and sustainable foundation.
But this story started with something much simpler.
Recognising that what the headline numbers were saying and what people were experiencing weren't quite the same thing.
Creating visibility changed that.
Shared understanding gave people somewhere to start.
And from there, the team created greater control over workloads, strengthened performance, built capacity and made work feel more manageable.
When shared understanding replaces hidden pressure, performance improves.
When systems are designed intentionally around people, services do more than cope – they build resilience and capacity for the future.
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