A meeting between a Powys Senedd Member and Audit Wales is being set up to discuss concerns about the local planning authority, a meeting has heard.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Governance and Audit committee on 23 May criticism of the council’s planning service made in a statement last month by Conservative MS for Montgomeryshire Russell George were brought up at with Audit Wales staff.

Mr George had called for a further independent review of the service due to the volume of concerns he receives from constituents about Powys’ planning service.

Committee vice chairman and lay member John Brautigam said: “There was an adverse planning report in 2023 which was followed up in 2024 with a very much more favourable document.

“But I was disturbed to see in the press last month that our local MS had written to the auditor general complaining about systemic failures in planning.”

Gareth Jones of Audit Wales said: “We have received the correspondence from the MS and arrangements have been made to meet and to understand the concerns he wishes to raise with the auditor general.

“Once we’ve received those concerns we will consider whether or not that falls is in our remit and work programme abilities.”

Committee chairwoman, Lynne Hamilton said: “The committee will be looking for an update in due course and to be advised if there’s further work planned.”

In May 2023 Audit Wales published a damning report into the state of Powys’ planning service and issued a number of recommendations for the council to address.

In response, the council set up an internal board to help steer improvements.

This seemed to bear fruit as last November, Audit Wales issued a follow up report which said that “overall” they had found that Powys planners had “responded quickly” to improve its arrangements.