The RTPI believes local authorities should have Chief Planning Officers at the top table of decision making. Our research has shown that this is not the case in the majority of UK local authorities at the moment, and what having a planner at the top table can help authorities achieve.
We published two pieces of research in 2018 and 2019:
Phase 1: The corporate and strategic influence of planning in local authorities – this found that only 23% of local authorities surveyed in the UK and Ireland had a head of planning service that reported directly to the local authority Chief Executive.
Phase 2: The case for the corporate and strategic influence of planning in local authorities. This research used case studies to highlight the positive impacts where planning has been placed at the heart of corporate decision making in local authorities.
After years of campaigning, the Scottish Government recently made sure there is a Chief Planning Officer in every local authority
RTPI’s Chief Executive Victoria Hills also set out the reasons why we think this should happen across the UK in an RTPI blog.