RTPI Assessors are involved in one of the key stages of a planner's career and are central to ensuring that the Institute's high professional standards are maintained. We love celebrating the achievements of our assessors and it’s so important for us to recognise their hard work and loyalty to the RTPI and the planning profession.
A Q & A with RTPI Assessor Graham Bloomfield
Graham is a Land and Planning Partner at Sequence / William H Brown and a member of the Membership Assessment Advisory Panel (MAAP). He has been a Professional Discussion Assessor from the first cohort in early 2022 and has also been an all-routes APC Assessor for over 10 years.
Why did you decide to become an APC assessor and Professional Discussion assessor?
My motivation for applying to become an APC assessor came initially from my own struggles with the APC process. As one of the first cohorts through L-APC back in the early 2000s I was unsuccessful and then deferred before finally achieving MRTPI status.
At that time, I was the Young Planners’ (YP) Representative for the East of England and far removed from the experience now, found the process somewhat opaque, and not really open to feedback on how to change and improve. This started to change from within the RTPI with the APC roadshows put on by the Membership team and it was over a beer after one of those that it was suggested I should consider applying to be an Assessor. From my perspective it was a great chance to understand the process better as a YP rep, assist others and critically have the opportunity to revise the process. I was also strongly of the view that it would be good to have assessors who had recently been through the process. I have also always been someone who will try and put my money where my mouth is and change things from the inside rather than grumbling from the sidelines, or on social media.
What achievement(s) are you most proud of from being an assessor?
I am particularly proud that shortly after becoming an assessor I put myself forward to be involved in the first revisions to the process replacing the original, ‘Blue Book’ guidance and have been heavily involved in ongoing revisions to the guidance and APC process ever since. I feel the Membership team do a fantastic job in ensuring the process is as good as it can be and are constantly looking to enhance it. When providing training to candidates I advise the process is as good in terms of fairness and consistency as it has ever been, and it is very rewarding to look back on that progress since I first became involved and having played a part in that.
Related to that I have really enjoyed bringing forward assessor-led training, giving the candidates top tips from an assessor’s perspective, initially within the East of England but during COVID-19 on a national basis via online webinars. It is also great to recognise some of these tips coming through in submissions including those considered for commendation through my role on the Membership Assessment Advisory Panel (MAAP) and receiving thanks from candidates. This includes one person who greeted me recently at a developer forum as ‘APC guy’ whilst I was trying to get a coffee!
How do you find the process of assessing to be rewarding?
APC assessing is very rewarding and a great way of gaining CPD. For the APC submissions there is more of a fixed commitment with deadlines on a quarterly basis plus resubs and you receive around 4-5 submissions as a pairing in a block and have a 2.5-week period to review and feedback. This does means setting aside time in the evenings and weekends to work through the submissions, liaising with your co-assessor and providing written feedback to the candidates. You are paired with the same assessor for one year and this is generally done in a balanced, complimentary way, so a public and private sector pairing for example.
Professional Discussions are structured in a slightly different and more flexible way, and I have written before about the flexibility afforded by this process, broken up into smaller stages. The interview-based approach also brings the benefits of direct engagement with the apprentices and discussing their projects, as well as rotating with a different assessment pairing every time. For both types of assessment there is an honorarium that is paid as well.
What do you believe is the impact of being an assessor for the RTPI on both the planning profession and your personal growth?
One of the great challenges we have currently is a shortage of planners and planning capacity. I would therefore strongly encourage RTPI members from all backgrounds to consider supporting the APC process, as this plays an important role in delivering more planners that will benefit everyone. In particular, the degree apprenticeship route is opening routes into planning from a very diverse range of backgrounds and has seen a significant uplift in applicants in 2024, which in turn will then feed into subsequent DA-APC rounds later this year and into 2025. Therefore, we are keen to see further members to come forward to assist with the process.
As a final point, as one of a number of planners who find themselves spending time working from home or a bit more isolated post-COVID-19, one of the real benefits I have gained from volunteering is the opportunity to socialise and put the world to rights with fellow planners, something I think we all need from time to time.
