Build foundations for success
The Government has an ambition to deliver 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament. It is their assessment that this will “require a rate of housebuilding and infrastructure construction not seen in over 50 years.” We were pleased to see the Government address the RTPI’s long-term ask to ring-fence planning fees. But planning reform alone won't achieve these ambitions, unless delivered by a well-resourced and skilled workforce. Planning is not a blocker; it is an under-resourced enabler.
The most recent OBR forecast concluded that NPPF reforms will deliver GDP worth £6.8bn by 2029/30, but RTPI research has found that investing into planning alongside reform can bring £70 billion in additional value for the economy.
To unlock this economic value, we need to address the current three-fold resourcing crisis experienced in planning departments: workforce, skills and capital.
1. Understand the resourcing crisis
From our State of the Profession report we know that:
- Total public expenditure on planning services in England has contracted by 16% from 2009/10 to 2022/23.
- The number of planners working in the public sector shrank by a quarter between 2009 and 2020.
- At the same time, the remuneration of planners in real terms has also been in sharp decline.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Local Authority planning capacity and skills survey 2023 further highlights the constraints within the system.
- Over 90% of planning departments reported some difficulty with recruitment.
- 72% reported some difficulty with retaining staff.
- 97% of planning departments reporting planning skills gaps, with gaps in biodiversity and design the most reported.
But we need to know more. In order for resourcing and capacity interventions to be effective, there needs to be a transparent whole-planning system audit. This would include a historic, current and projected analysis of changes to the resourcing of consenting teams and local plan functions within:
- Planning authorities
- Statutory consultees
- Planning Inspectorate
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Availability of internal expertise across planning authorities – ecologists, heritage professionals, flood officers, transport officers and legal teams
2. Give planners the tools for success
With 97% of planning authorities identifying skills gaps in their departments, the need for a holistic approach to skills development across the country could not be more urgent.
Impending changes to the planning system, including new skills demands from the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, could aggravate this situation with new demands on planners. A skills development programme needs to upskill our workforce on these key issues in particular:
- Biodiversity net gain
- Design
- Project management
- Data analysis
- Digital skills
- Quality and effective community engagement
- Preparing Spatial Development Strategies
- Engagement with Development Corporations
3. Build the planning workforce of the future
The Government has announced the welcome addition of 300 new planners into the system, but this is not sufficient to meet the challenges experienced by our workforce. Home Builders Federation’s report estimates that there is a current national shortage of over 2,200 planners in local authorities. Capital injection alone will not solve resourcing issues in planning departments, without consideration for the workforce pipeline and succession planning.
Funding should be allocated to facilitate a capacity building programme enabling the recruitment of Level 7 Chartered Town Planner apprentices. This excellent pipeline of qualified town planners is currently under threat by proposed reforms to Level 7 apprenticeships.
Up to 70% of Chartered Town Planner Level 7 apprentices work and train in local government. Without access to levy funding they will not be able to train and enter the planning workforce.
The Government’s own Pathways to Planning programme, a £1.59 million grant to the Local Government Association to support aspiring students into the planning sector, also uses the apprenticeship levy to fund the training of graduates on the scheme.
Without the continued funding of Chartered Town Planner Level 7 apprentices, multiple routes of entry into our already severely under-resourced profession will be impacted.
To secure a future skilled and well-trained workforce of town planners into the sector, the Government should provide continued access to the Growth and Skills Levy to fund Chartered Town Planner Level 7 apprentices.