House of Commons - Communities and Local Government Committee

Select Committee on Communities and Local Government Committee Written Evidence

Memorandum by Department of Planning, School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University

1. Department of Planning, Oxford Brookes University

1.1 The Department of Planning based in the School of the Built Environment at Oxford Brookes University is a major centre for planning education and research. The Department has over 30 academic and research staff, over 40 doctoral students and over 300 postgraduate students. It has an outstanding reputation for the quality of its teaching and research achieving grade 4 in 2001 RAE.

1.2 Staff within the Department have undertaken a number of empirical studies on skills and knowledge development in local planning officers and in training for councillors which are relevant to the work of this inquiry. This memorandum identifies relevant points from those studies which will inform the work of the inquiry and also draws on the Department's experience as a provider of initial education and continuing professional development for local authority planning officers and elected members.

2. Recent changes to the range and detail of knowledge and skills needed by staff within planning departments

2.1 The following observations are drawn from the findings of a study into knowledge development in planning professionals in 2006.[9] The study involved collecting data using a number of techniques including the use of reflective diaries over a one month period. The diaries show:

— planners have a busy and often diverse workload. Some of the respondents saw themselves as more experts/specialists in a particular activity (eg economic development; Inspectorate; development control) but most carried out a wide range of activities over the reporting month. Recent changes in the planning system, with the introduction for example of LDFs and SEA/SA (sustainability appraisal), have tended to widen the scope even more.

— For some, the diversity and especially the workload pressures were a source of considerable frustration.

— There were many examples in the diaries of "experts" needing to learn new skills (eg in putting together bids, preparing terms of reference for outsourced work, and assessing proposals) and, in a fast-moving policy environment, in new areas of practice (eg SA and LDFs).

— Several of the responses from more senior staff highlighted the importance of generic skills, such as brokering, communication, diplomacy, negotiation and team leadership. These were acquired on the job, by learning from past mistakes, but also from post-initial training in management/generic skills.

2.2 Most respondents, and especially the ones new to practice, appeared to make considerable use of the Internet as an important, and often first, source of information—after their own personal knowledge. The Internet covered a multitude of sources:

— Google is often used as a starting point. Other important sources referred to included Government sites (eg ODPM/DCLG), other LPAs and Planning Matters.

— Some sources were found to be more problematic, including some Government statistical sites. There was concern about the reliability of some web-based information, and the marketing nature of Google.

2.3 This increased use of the internet is confirmed in other findings in the report and has only become apparent over the last 10 years.

2.4 The study also showed that the focus on sustainable communities and engaging in partnership with different disciplines often requires the planner to have an understanding of the "vocabulary" of that discipline and this can cause problems if the local authority staff do not have that. The study highlighted the case of an officer who needed to discuss energy efficiency provision in new developments but did not feel confidently conversant with terminology to be sure that the most appropriate provision was being included.

3. Main areas where a lack of skills is most pronounced

3.1 A study published in 2004[10] of skills in LPAs in England showed that the "top" three discipline based skills shortages were design, development control, and conservation heritage. A more recent study of skills shortages in Scottish planning authorities[11] in 2006 showed that the top three skills requirements were IT skills, urban/rural design, and planning law/legislation.

3.2 Another study in 2004 by a consortium of three Universities in the South East for SEEDA[12] undertook a review into the supply and demand for built environment professionals in relation to sustainable communities. It concluded:

— There is a broad consensus that there are key generic skills that are in very short supply. It was felt that they are urgently needed to enable generally well-skilled professionals to operate effectively to achieve the aims and objectives of the sustainable communities agenda (thus supporting the conclusions of the Egan Review).

— In terms of generic skills, "working with others" is generally given the highest priority. This ranges from the "softer" skills of communication and team-working, across the all important leadership, to the more operational stakeholder management and project management.

— These, in turn are supported by a high level of concern about the need for more analytical, financial and decision-making skills.

— In relation to key professional skills, all employers in the research were concerned about gaps in the availability of built environment professionals. Many identified the problem of a lack of good quality planners, although this was felt more keenly by local authorities than in private practice. However, there were also other professionals cited by employers as being in short supply, including; cultural heritage and listed building specialists, building surveyors (RICS members), as well as ecologists and archaeologists.

— Within the planning profession, it was also felt that there was a shortage of specialist planners, with retail planning, transport planning, development planning and planners with EIA skills being cited as problem areas. It was felt that, traditionally, planners have been trained as generalists, but increasingly, they are needed to take up specialist roles, and this is an area where it is hard to fill posts.

4. Skills needed by and level of training provided to councillors

4.1 Oxford Brookes Planning Department has been providing training to councillors since 1994.[13] A review of this training shows that over the last ten years the key issues that promote discussion amongst councillor delegates to the courses are: probity in decision-making; officer-member relationships; enforcement; and the use of S106 planning obligations.

4.2 Demand for training for councillors is increasing with courses on "Introduction to the Planning Process", "Development Control", "An Overview of the Planning System" and "Screening, Scoping and ES Review" being steadily consistent over this period. Recently we have seen increasing demand for courses in "Environmental Impact Assessment", "Planning Law", "Enforcement Issues for Planning Officers", "Development Control", "Introduction to the Planning Process" and sustainability and design, all of which we can and do tailor to the specific requirements of the local authority.

5. The role and effectiveness of agencies involved in monitoring, developing and providing specialist knowledge and skills for planning officers and councillors and their response to changes to the demands placed on planning departments

5.1 As a provider of initial education for planning officers, the introduction of a one year Masters course has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students who undertake a postgraduate planning course. At Oxford Brookes we regularly recruit over 100 students pa. As 70% take the course part-time (over two years)—thereby gaining valuable experience in planning practice at the same time as studying—it does mean we have 170 students in any one year.

5.2 We have also introduced a Certificate Course in Spatial Planning (1-year part-time) designed for planning technicians who then go onto the MSc in Spatial Planning (subject to gaining a mark of 50% plus in their work). We recruit between six to 10 students per year to this course. We also run an in-house certificate in Urban Design, which is a part-time course for local authority officers

5.3 Our has most popular courses continue to be short courses and CPD provision for officers, elected members and administrative offices as well as other practioners.

6. Effectiveness of Government in supporting local authorities

6.1 The 2006 study on knowledge development in planners[14] has shown:

— Regardless of the level of experience, all use the internet to identify sources of information (although this reliance has only built up over the last six years). This has made information searching quicker, although in terms of the impact on sense-making practices, it has made this harder, due to the overload of information obtained and the poor navigability of websites. The reliance or weight of these websites is also important and Government (national and local) websites tend to be considered the most reliable sources of information.

— The overload of information in terms of advice, best practice and guidance and the lack of clear Government policy were identified by the study as a limitation to practice.

7. Long-term effectiveness of measure being taken by local authorities and others to mitigate gaps in the skills and knowledge within planning departments

7.1 The following is an extract from the conclusions to a paper[15] on the impact of the skills capacity constraints in LPAs and of measure being employed to deal with them:

— "The UK planning system has been encountering skills capacity constraints for many years, and these are being exacerbated by the rapid changes and increasing demands from a system which is very much in a state of flux. Such constraints need to be addressed if the planning system is to meet the important demands required of it over the coming decades.

— Yet, our research shows that there does not appear to be the appropriate capacity to deliver the current and anticipated future planning agenda. There is a shortage of planning officers, with the appropriate skills, and this is affecting the delivery of service. Skills in development control are clearly in short supply as are specialisations such as urban design and conservation. Increasingly there is focus on the need to have key generic skills such as negotiation and working with the community. Graduate entrants into local government now tend to come particularly from the undergraduate courses, with those on postgraduate tending to go into private practice or to a range of other employers (eg regional development agencies). Those who do go into LPA are selective of where they go, preferring challenging/exciting authorities usually in urban city areas. Experienced LPA officers are finding there is a wealth of vacancies in the profession and can move easily between authorities. LPAs find it hard to fill all their vacancies as there are simply not enough qualified and experienced planners to go around: the impact from a downturn in the property market nearly 20 years ago which resulted in graduate planners going into other careers is still being felt. On average, in 2004, local authorities were 15% down on their establishments.

— Responses are emerging to try and address these issues. Changes to the education system are seeking to increase the supply of graduates, although this currently focuses on the postgraduate supply and there is concern that this might not provide the supply of graduates needed by LPAs. There is also a focus on the up-skilling of those in practice, by providing opportunities for training, although the research has shown that many authorities have small budgets for training. LPAs themselves are also looking at ways to address the issues. Our research, however, suggests that there are many issues underlying the lack of capacity in skills, some of long standing origin, and that long term solutions will be needed to resolve them."

7.2 The following is the conclusion to a paper[16] which aimed to demonstrate the nature and cause of challenges in the recruitment and retention of planning officers in LPAs which had been reported widely by local authorities but which had not before been quantified. The results of an empirical study[17] which informed the paper had shown that all types of authorities and regions were experiencing difficulties, whilst a brief consideration of the situation in other countries showed that the challenges were not unique to England. What was clear from the study is that the problem was deep rooted in recent history, with the impact of political decisions made over 20 years ago still being felt:

— In contrast, anecdotal evidence from authorities in the South East collected in 2007 suggests a possible easing of the situation outside of London, especially at county level. However, it should be noted that in the empirical study the County Councils did not appear to experience quite the same degree of difficulties as other types of authorities in recruitment and retention and whether this apparent "easing" is limited to the counties is not known. Similarly, due to the methodology and timescale of the study, it was not possible to follow up with the questionnaire respondents from the County Councils (and Unitary Authorities) who indicated it had become easier to recruit in the 12 months prior to the survey in order to understand the factors that were influential in bringing about this situation.

— It is possible that one answer may be that problems of recruitment are not consistent across the range of roles that are undertaken by planning professionals, with some more "popular" roles attracting a larger field of applicants than less popular but highly specialized roles. As one ... [research participant] ... reported: "Some posts are more attractive/easier to fill than others—for example 40 applicants for a regeneration post, but only six for a minerals planning post." Students ... [questioned for the study] ... also indicated a preference for some types of authorities and regions, which may indicate selectivity in their applications and why some regions/authorities are finding it easier to recruit staff than others.

— The results from this cross-England study have shown that local authorities are themselves developing other ways of increasing the number of planning staff, through initiatives such as "grow your own", where technical staff undertake planning education, or through organizational developments that, for example, give rise to enhanced roles for support staff".

Evidence compiled by Dr Bridget Durning with input by Dr Juliet Carpenter, Prof John Glasson, Prof Georgia Butina Watson (Head of Department) and Mrs Karen Hughes of Department of Planning, Oxford Brookes University.