Rhian Brimble is Policy Officer for RTPI Cymru
The RTPI State of the Profession Report (2023) identified that net expenditure in Local Planning Authorities in Wales was cut by 50% from 2008 to 2021 in real terms, while ambitious policy and legislation continue to put high expectations on the planning system. This has created a drain on the system, impacting on performance and delivery, resulting in planners feeling over stretched.
The recent Welsh Government consultation on planning fees recognised the pressure within the planning system, as a result of diminishing resources over this prolonged period of time. It sought views on the opportunity to increase planning application fees, the potential of reaching full cost recovery on planning application fees, options to re-invigorating a Performance Framework and ways to support capacity and skills within the system.
A cross section of planning practitioners from the private and public sectors and academia from across Wales came together to discuss and feed into RTPI Cymru’s response to the consultation, including the RTPI Cymru Policy and Research Forum, the Wales Planning Consultants Forum, and a roundtable with representatives from our wider membership.
While the consultation recognised performance and resilience within the system, what the figures and proposals did not reflect is the benefit and value that the planning system delivers. Planning and placemaking, if used effectively, can be a significant part of the solution to wider social, economic and environmental challenges, underpinning the delivery of sustainable development and bringing together objectives and goals across services and sectors.
Local Planning Authorities are left crumbling under the pressure of increased demand and decreased resources. It is therefore essential that income from application fees is reinvested into improving service delivery, putting more planners on the ground as part of a broad new investment in place, with support for key skills and specialisms. This should include the wider planning service including policy/plan making, development management, enforcement, and directly related consultees, including ecology and highways.
However, we must recognise that planning fees are just a small part of the story, and income is not the sole driver of performance. Performance is affected by many factors, including the quality of leadership and management, processes, systems, expertise, culture, support services etc. There are equally many external factors and conditions that have a significant impact on planning delivery, for example, Local Planning Authorities are reliant on third parties such as statutory consultees, who can markedly affect timeliness and decision making. The quality of application submissions is also an important factor in the timely delivery of decisions. If a submission is not complete or the supporting information is lacking, then this can affect the length of time taken for an application to be determined, with this time delay often masked within the statutory time period. Other factors affecting performance include legislative or case law change such as nutrient neutrality and the speed of completing S106 agreements.
Expectation must be managed with regards the time and complexity of delivering improvements to the planning service through a clear and transparent vision, so that all parties including planners, statutory consultees and applicants are aware of the long-term plan for improving service delivery and their role within this. We now need to work together, making better use of our existing resources, as well as looking beyond patching up the holes that have been created by cuts, to see public funding of planning as an investment in creating the places we need to deliver the social, environmental, economic, and cultural outcomes we aspire to.
Digital technology may offer opportunities to improve the working lives of planners and those engaging with the system – improving the way we collate, use and share data, to deliver the planning system. This could promote transparency, understanding, interoperability and inclusiveness, where users better understand why and how decisions are made, with improved access to information and knowledge, while easing resource pressures for planners and improving planning outcomes more generally. RTPI Cymru has commissioned Dr Ruth Potts and Dr Brian Webber, from Cardiff University to undertake research that will scope the potential for digital planning to ease resource pressures and improve planning outcomes in Wales. Our digital planning research is expected to be published mid-2025.
Read our full response to the Welsh Government consultation here.
