HARROW Council has sold planning advice to around 80 companies whose applications it has considered.

Feedback given by planning officers can attract as much as £1,500 if a face to face meeting is organised while a basic written response costs as little as £100, with a more detailed report sold at £750.

Officers do not make the final decision on whether to approve substantial applications, but do write detailed reports advising the councillors who do.

Councillor Marilyn Ashton, portfolio holder for planning development and enterprise, said the policy is intended to address problems with potential projects before they reach the application phase.

She said: "While there is clearly more likelihood that a proposal that has been through the process will be recommended for approval, there is never any guarantee.

"In some instances it offers the officers the opportunity to tell potential applicants not to submit as there is little prospect of success, saving everyone's time."

Cllr Ashton said committee members are informed when advice has been given on a project, but said they are not told how much money is received by the council.

The Harrow Times requested an example of an instance when advice was sold on a project that was eventually rejected.

The council did not provide one, but Cllr Ashton said proposals for a new boarding house at Harrow School, in High Street, Harrow-on-the-Hill, were changed on the basis of advice from planning officers.

The council released the figures after the Audit Commission, which scrutinises local authority spending plans, praised the policy last week.