Local authorities' funds
201. Fee income only contributes towards the
processing of planning applications and not plan preparation which
is funded by local authorities. Far from allocating additional
funds for their planning departments, the Chairman of the Local
Government Association, Sir Jeremy Beecham, told us that councils
were prioritising investment in other key services like social
services and education.[125]
Lord Falconer however ruled out ring fencing funds for local authority
planning departments.[126]
202. Local Authority Planning Departments
are short of staff. The Green Paper does not give sufficient weight
to the need for councils to retain their planning staff or for
the profession to attract new graduates so as to make the current
system work effectively. The Government needs to be working more
closely with local authorities to improve staff retention, and
with schools, universities and the professional bodies to make
planning a more popular career. The Government's reforms are unlikely
to change the image of the planning profession and raise the status
of planners.
203. The Government's reforms would require more
staff with new skills and cannot be introduced until they are
in place. An incremental approach to reforming the planning
system would allow the reforms to be introduced as the skills
become available.
204. Additional funds can be secured by raising
application fees but they will not in themselves be sufficient.
Local authorities must recognise the important strategic role
performed by their planning departments and to allocate a higher
proportion of their budgets to them.
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