B1. Strategic Cycle

Strategic Cycle

B1.1. Describing the context

Guidance

The review team should gain an understanding what factors define the scope and what information should be gathered for describing the context of the authority.

Note: the step of describing the context will partly have been covered in part A of this questionnaire.

Topics to consider

• What areas and activities are important for permitting?
• What type of information is collected and how is this collected to assure the authority can perform its tasks?
• How do the goals and objectives (part A) influence the work of permitting?

Priorities

B.1.2. Setting priorities

Guidance

The review team should gain an understanding on how the authority sets priorities in relation to the work of the permitting department.

Topics to consider

• What procedure is used for setting priorities?
• Is a model or assessment tool used to set these priorities?
• What factors are used to rank permit applications that are received?
• How is the outcome of the assessment used in the development of the work plan?
• How are the resources of the authority included in this process?
• What are the numbers and time spend on permitting activities per year by type or category of applications and or installations?

Strategy

B1.3. Defining strategies

Guidance

The review team should gain an understanding on how the authority defines its strategies and how they are communicated.

Topics to consider

• What targets (on environmental outcome) have been set by either national level or by the own organisation that need to be achieved ?
• Are these targets translated in activities, plans or strategies?
• What strategies are in place? (e.g. how to apply BAT, reviewing existing permits, objectives or targets for certain companies or industrial sectors, encouraging and facilitating eco-innovations, relationship between permitting and inspection, transparency and visibility, internal and external communication).

Planning

B1.4. Planning

Guidance

The review team should gain an understanding on how the authority develops a work plan for her permit officers and how plans are annually reviewed and revised.

Topics to consider

• What are the procedures for developing the annual work plan for the permit officers?
• How is the available resources allocated between the different tasks of a permit officers?
• What are the procedures for reviewing and revising the annual work plan?
• How are the results of the previous work plan taken on board?
• How are findings on the performance of the authority in the previous year(s) taken into account?