House of Commons - Communities and Local Government Committee

Select Committee on Communities and Local Government Committee Written Evidence

Memorandum by the Royal Town Planning Institute[40]

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

— Skills development is a continuous requirement. It is underpinned by education, which provides the capacity to respond to changes (paragraphs 1 to 5).

— One of the greatest problems lies not in the supply of appropriate training but in the lack of demand from local authorities—pressures on time and financial resources often mean that training opportunities are not used (paragraphs 9 to 13).

— Individuals are more committed to ongoing professional development if they are part of a membership body with mandatory CPD requirements. Encouraging or requiring planning staff to take up professional membership is in the employer's interest. Training needs should be determined between employers and individuals (paragraphs 14 to 15).

— Both changes in the planning system and developments in knowledge and techniques are driving rapid changes in skills requirements. Managerial competences are equally significant (paragraphs 16 to 22).

— Key areas for developing skills include urban design, sustainable development, climate change, economic development, enforcement and community engagement (paragraphs 23 to 31).

— Elected member training should be a requirement, including ongoing training. Formal training should be backed up by opportunities for mutual learning. The focus should not just be on development control but on what effective spatial planning can achieve (paragraphs 32 to 35).

— Elected Member Review Bodies are a bad idea—but if they do go ahead then such bodies will need access to independent professional advice (paragraph 36).

— Central government needs to lead the way in culture change, shifting to a focus on outcomes rather than inputs. A key requirement for the sustainable communities agenda is leadership skills. There needs to be research into the skills we shall need for the future, not just for now (paragraphs 37 to 46).

— The government must take a long-term view on capacity-building so that we can respond to continuous change (paragraphs 47 to 50).

— Local authorities are in many cases not able to meet existing skills needs, let alone longer term developmental needs. The replacement of Planning Delivery Grant by Housing and Planning Delivery Grant may make this worse (paragraphs 51 to 55).

INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL POINTS

1. Changes in skills requirements are continuous. This is a function of changes in policy, legislation, techniques and our social, economic and environmental requirements. Professional planners will need to learn new sets of skills several times over in the course of their careers.

2. So thinking about skills needs is essentially a long-term requirement. But there are some basic necessary constants for ensuring that changing skills and knowledge needs can be met.

An education which covers the "why" as well as the "what" and the "how"—because if we understand the why then we can develop the what and the how as conditions change. All skills are underpinned by education

3. Initial professional education is and should be primarily a matter between the university and the professional body. RTPI and planning schools have made significant progress in recent years in making accredited courses[41] more accessible, affordable and relevant; and in making it easier to introduce new courses. [see Annex A: Accredited courses and Student Numbers]. In the last three years four "new" universities (Glasgow, Kingston, Strathclyde and Cork) have found it possible to enter the planning education market.

4. The role of the postgraduate student bursaries offered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and subsequently the Department for communities and local Government has been highly effective in supporting this effort, attracting a very high calibre of students into planning: to date 92% of recipients hold a first or upper-second undergraduate degree. The RTPI obviously recommends that this should continue for as long as possible[42].

5. We are aware that there is some concern that around half of the bursary recipients proceed straight into the private sector. In so far as (a) the bursary scheme increases the overall pool, and (b) most new entrants understand that career paths now frequently mean service in both public and private sectors, we do not see grounds for panic. There is also strong anecdotal evidence from planning schools, backed up now by the Academy for Sustainable Communities' report Mind the Skills Gap[43], that the private sector secures first choice by smarter, earlier recruiting.

The availability of suitable training or developmental courses which allow planners to acquire new skills

6. We think that this is probably the least significant of the factors in the training problem.

7. There is a well-developed and competitive market place for training, with courses provided by universities, companies and professional bodies, not least the RTPI itself. The RTPI seeks to provide a full range of training opportunities throughout England and the devolved nations, including low-cost events [see Annex B], making full use of its matrix of regions and sectoral networks.

8. The market has shown that it can respond to changing conditions. Web-based material is increasing. Planning Matters, the on-line learning and support system sponsored by the RTPI, is a good example of this, and has even achieved a (so far modest) global market. Initiatives such as the RTPI's pilot Collaborative Working Groups based on action learning models illustrate a further broadening of the offer.

The resources of time and money to support in service training, and the commitment of the employer to see that staff do develop their professional and other skills

9. We believe this to be the single most critical factor in the overall training problem, and particularly serious in relation to local government. The best training in the world has little chance of success if the intended beneficiaries cannot access it.

10. We think the most obvious manifestation of this is the lack of money made available by or to local authorities to support an adequate programme of training as part of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Hard evidence for this is difficult to acquire—and worthy of proper investigation. What there is suggests quite wide variations [see Annex C], but those at a low level are apparently frequently at a desperately low level. In these circumstances professional will be hard-pressed to maintain current skill levels, let alone improve them.

11. Another very significant factor in the problem, although even harder to substantiate evidentially, is the lack of time available to professional staff in local authorities to undertake training[44]. In many authorities particularly in the southern part of the country, this is exacerbated by recruitment difficulties, or retention difficulties in areas facing local government re-organisation[45]. A partial solution to this would be to ensure that local authorities do not use scarce resources of professional staff to do administrative work.

12. We believe that achieving an adequate long-term solution to this problem requires that professional development and training should be an integral part of performance management regimes required by either the National Audit Office or CLG itself.

13. RTPI seeks to encourage employers to support training and professional development through its "Learning Partners" programme, which kite-marks good employers who make and maintain this commitment, which includes active discussion between the employer and the individual about their development needs. This new initiative (since 2007) has already been taken up by several local authorities [see Annex D].

The commitment of the individual to developing skills and knowledge

14. Individual commitment to developing professional knowledge, and maintaining professional standards, is evidenced only when the person is a member of a professional body which, like the RTPI, has a mandatory CPD requirement. A mandatory requirement does not necessarily mean being specific about what the individual should study[46]; it does mean in the case of the RTPI that the individual is subject to sanction for failing to provide proof of CPD work.

15. In times of shortages of qualified planners (but not in all parts of the country) local authorities are understandably diffident about insisting on full professional qualifications. Nevertheless they could help themselves if they required any employee who represented themselves as "eligible for RTPI [or other professional] membership" to actually acquire it. A claimed "eligibility" simply does not equate with the fact of membership. This is even more the case now that the RTPI has introduced its Assessment of Professional Competence, which requires individuals to undertake structured Continuing Professional Development with the assistance of a mentor before they can be admitted to Corporate Membership.

RECENT CHANGES TO THE RANGE AND DETAIL OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS NEEDED BY STAFF WITHIN PLANNING DEPARTMENTS

16. These are best grouped into three broad categories:

a) The changing requirements of the planning system.

b) The changing requirements around technical skills.

c) Managerial and generic skills and competences.

Changing requirements of the planning system

17. The planning system has been in a state of flux since 2004, and this continues, with legislative change (the Planning Reform Bill, the Housing and Regeneration Bill and ultimately the Sub National Review), policy changes (new planning Policy Statements), and the legal case-work that emerges from this. This is why "legal updates" are always amongst the most popular training events—in our most recent survey 60% of members identified this as an important area for their CPD programmes. Staying "current" and not exposing the local authority to legal challenge is a major concern for local government planners.

18. We do think that both the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) and Government Offices could potentially do more to support the development of planners. For example, there is real nervousness in many local authorities around the requirements of the "test of soundness" which is a key element in the examination of Local Development Frameworks. CLG intends to issue revised guidance on this very shortly, which is welcome, but if PINS were simply to produce an annual report specifically on the test of soundness, using examples of cases upheld or rejected, then that would be a very powerful and cost-effective learning tool.

Changing requirements for technical skills

19. A key point is that the field of spatial planning is so wide that no individual could ever have all the skills necessary to cover all facets—so being able to bring in specialist knowledge from outside [eg for environmental work] is an integral part of "capacity".

20. In general the areas of most rapid change are around:

— Environmental and climate change issues.

— Community engagement.

The effective practice in spatial planning initiative covers a wide range of skills, reflecting its holistic and outcomes-focused nature [see Annex E]. We believe that this goes to the heart of what the sustainable communities agenda seeks to achieve. We intend to promote it very actively to chief executives, elected members and planners in local government, and hope to have some government support to do so.

21. There is obviously some cross-over between the areas of system change and technical change: for example, if the Planning Bill introduces the proposed Community Infrastructure Levy, that will undoubtedly create a new training requirement. So would the Competition Commission's proposed `competition test' for supermarkets, although it is not clear whether this would be part of the planning system or a separate regulatory regime.

Managerial and generic skills and competences

22. Planning departments have complex functions, and operate in an increasingly complex environment. Generic management skills which enable them to handle work-flow and knowledge-flow efficiently are thus a key part of the overall equation. As useful initiatives like Multi Area Agreements become a more significant part of their work, the demand for such skills will increase. The RTPI's Collaborative Working Groups, which form part of the Planners in the Workplace Programme, are designed to assist with this through shared action learning.

THE MAIN AREAS WHERE A LACK OF SKILLS IS MOST PRONOUNCED

23. Our most recent survey of members dates to 2005.

24. Areas in which members express the greatest need for training are not necessarily those where a lack of skills is most pronounced. Evidence suggests that by virtue of entering a specialist area, planners become more aware of the wide range of knowledge and skill that could be acquired, and then wish to develop their specialism. Nevertheless, the anecdotal evidence suggests that the issues identified in paragraphs 27 and 29 below are still the areas of greatest concern.

25. There is a distinction to be drawn also between basic levels of "awareness" and specialist knowledge and skill. This is particularly true of urban design: many planners are anxious to develop skills of appreciation of urban design issues; many fewer want or believe they have the aptitude to develop actual urban design skills.

26. Urban design is of quite critical importance in relation to the government's aspirations for housing delivery. Encouraging or requiring volume house-builders to achieve high standards of urban design remains one of the most intractable problems in planning. Unless and until we can make real progress here, together with the issue of delivering infrastructure, the common public view that new development is more likely to be bad than good will continue to frustrate housing programmes.

Planning-related knowledge and skills

27. Figures for areas of planning/technical skill identified as areas for development[48]:

— Urban design training (63%).

— Sustainable development (68%).

— Economic development (44%).

— Transport planning (36%).

— Climate change and environmental planning (48%).

— Regional/strategic spatial strategies (42%).

— Enforcement training (24%).

— Minerals and waste planning (15% and 18%).

28. Enforcement training now has a sponsor in the RTPI's National Association for Planning Enforcement (NAPE). This has been an unfashionable, but vital, area for skills development. There is huge value in having a body such as NAPE to focus the expertise of "users" on how to develop and deliver training programmes. The RTPI's other networks (eg transport planning, urban design, development management) increasingly fulfil this role in their own areas[49].

Managerial and generic skills and competences

29. Leading topics here are:

— Project management (65%).

— Public speaking and presentation (60%).

— Leadership and motivation (59%).

— Financial appraisal (55%).

— Community engagement (54%).

— Strategic thinking (52%).

— Change management (51%).

30. These are relatively high-level management and leadership skills: as such they are unlikely to be present to any great extent in more junior professionals, but do point up the need for management and leadership skills to be developed in local authorities. With its focus on Management and Leadership skills, the RTPI Planners in the Workplace Programme should also be able to assist in this area.

31. Community engagement skills are increasingly important as the true value of participatory democracy is recognised. Not all planners can develop in-depth community engagement skills, but all should have a proper level of awareness of what constitutes effective community engagement. The RTPI's Planning Aid programme is a very cost-effective means of making such skills and awareness training available. The RTPI allows its members to count Planning Aid work towards their CPD requirements in recognition of this.

THE SKILLS NEEDED BY, AND LEVEL OF TRAINING PROVIDED TO, COUNCILLORS WHO MAKE PLANNING DECISIONS, INCLUDING ON THE PROPOSED LOCAL MEMBER REVIEW BODIES

32. The RTPI believes that all councillors who are members of bodies which have powers of decision in planning should be required to undertake some basic training in planning.

33. Training should cover the basic concepts (eg land-use not land user), the policy and statutory framework, key procedures which involve councillors, the probity dimension, and enforcement. About three days is required initially plus at least a day annually to maintain and develop skills and knowledge.

34. Beyond the basic, formal and refresher training we believe that elected members develop their knowledge best through a process of briefings and updates, and the opportunity to share experiences. Many local councillors become very knowledgeable about planning through long years of experience, and many seek enthusiastically to develop their knowledge through membership of the RTPI's Planners in Politics Network (PIPA) (now with approximately 225 members and growing rapidly) and the Elected Members School of the annual Planning Summer School (which attracts about 400 delegates annually).

35. But the focus should not just be on development control. There is an imperative need to help elected members understand and embrace what can be done through effective practices of spatial planning to help their communities achieve the infrastructure, the quality of environment, the quality of development and the services which they need (see paragraph 20).

36. As regards Local Member Review Bodies, the RTPI advises against this idea strongly: appellate functions should not be carried out by the body responsible for the first decision. But if they are to be set up, then (a) the elected members must have access to appropriate professional advice—they cannot be subject to the jeopardy of dealing with appeals without such advice; (b) that advice cannot come from the department which made the original decision; so (c) it must either be provided by the Inspectorate or by being bought in from outside. This will inevitably be a less efficient, more costly and less well-regarded arrangement than currently obtains.

THE ROLE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF AGENCIES INVOLVED IN MONITORING, DEVELOPING AND PROVIDING SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR PLANNING OFFICIALS AND COUNCILLORS, AND THEIR RESPONSE TO CHANGES TO THE DEMANDS PLACED ON PLANNING DEPARTMENTS

37. There is a plethora of such bodies now—the CLG itself, the Academy for Sustainable Communities, the Asset Skills Council, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, the Local Government Association, the Planning Advisory Service, Planning Summer School, Regional Centres of Excellence, Regional Development Authorities, the Urban Design Alliance, various planning schools and private sector bodies—and not least the RTPI.

38. In these circumstances there is inevitably some duplication of effort; and some reinventing of wheels. Co-ordination of effort is difficult, not least because some of these bodies perceive themselves to be in competition rather than in alliance. Some conventions on sharing data—an "open method of co-ordination"—would be helpful.

39. Perhaps the single biggest problem, although by its nature it is almost impossible to quantify, however, has been the "target culture", which until now has equated local authority performance in planning with a crude and incomplete set of essentially input (not outcome) indicators.

40. When the 2004 Act was introduced Government said correctly that "changing the culture" was as important as revising the legislation. That change, to a culture focused on how integrated and inclusive practices of spatial planning can help make better places, has been achieved to only a very limited extent: and a large part of the problem is within central government itself, where planning is still seen primarily as a "blueprint-regulatory" function rather than a collaborative and creative activity focused on outcomes and delivery[50].

41. This is not helped at all by the confusion around the role of the Government Offices in planning—whether they are counsellors or constables—which makes some of them ineffective in either role.

42. This is a difficult area. There is and should be scope for a plurality of approaches to developing skills. Indeed the very last thing that we need is another new central agency seeking to define its own unique authority and territory. If more of the money which has been spent on institutions had passed direct to training and education programmes, we should probably have seen more results on the ground.

43. There is also a particular danger in seeking to turn what may be quite acceptable as political shorthand or rhetoric—the term "sustainable communities" itself, for example—into functional training programmes. In reality there are no special sustainable communities skills: there is instead a vast range of knowledge and expertise, both formal and informal, which can and does contribute to making better places.

44. The real purchase in the term sustainable communities lies not in the identification of a specific range of skill-sets, although it is helpful to the extent that it encourages thinking across disciplinary boundaries. It lies instead in a focus on how communities can develop as much of a shared vision as is possible (because there will always be some dissent) about what that abstract notion means in practice in relation to their circumstances, their needs, their resources and their responsibilities to other or broader communities. The missing skills which this calls for are to a very large extent leadership skills.

45. Because our present development standards are ultimately unsustainable, we need to focus forwards: there should be an integrated research programme involving all stakeholders which analyses performance (real performance, ie outcomes) with a view specifically to identifying areas of priority for innovation in policy or practice—in other words, to develop new skills and expertise beyond those we currently have. This could be led jointly by CLG and DEFRA; alternatively it could be led by the Planning Education and Research Network which the RTPI is launching this year.

46. From this analysis five recommendations flow:

a) No new agencies, but a co-ordinated effort to establish needs and deficiencies in local government though shared survey and data analysis.

b) Open discussion about the implications of such data, and likely future requirements, so that providers can respond to the signals effectively and in good time.

c) As government develops new Planning Policy Statements or other policy documents with implications for planning, it should give explicit consideration to the likely training and skills implications of the change, advised by its stakeholders—a form of skills or training impact assessment.

d) A "top leaders" programme for elected members and senior officials from both central and local government to share experience and ideas about what it really means to seek to deliver sustainable communities.

e) A joint research effort focused on identifying new skills and expertise that we shall need in the future.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GOVERNMENT IN SUPPORTING LOCAL AUTHORITIES AS THEY RESPOND TO CHANGES IN THE DEMANDS PLACED ON THEM

47. The change process is and will be continuous. It is possible to anticipate some changes, as priorities shift: an increasing urgency about reducing carbon and other emissions, requiring better understanding of the requirements of carbon-neutral development, the further development of techniques such as the Merton Rule, the need to explore the potential of Live-Work quarters or clusters to raise sustainability targets, the need to re-use wherever possible rather than build new.

48. But the point is that central government needs to have a long-term view on this—not one which rises and falls with three-year spending programmes. Defining the programmes needed now is actually less important than defining how the capacity to respond to continuous change will be developed and sustained over the long-run.

49. There are three necessary elements to this:

a) Central government needs to make it very clear to local authorities that they have a duty to seek to ensure that both elected members and professional officers are given the resources of time and money necessary to develop their knowledge and expertise.

b) If it wills the end, it must will the means: central government must be clear about how this should be financed.

c) The role of the Government Offices in the regions needs to be clarified: if they have a support role, then it needs to be articulated more clearly, and the planning staff there need to be strengthened and up-skilled to fulfil that role properly.

50. There are also some short-term initiatives which the government or its agencies could take. PINS should have a more overt role in education and skills. For example, and in line with the proposal in paragraph 18 in relation to the test of soundness, an annual report by PINS focusing specifically on cases involving urban design and volume house-builders, setting out where appeals were upheld and why, or not, would be another very powerful learning tool for local authorities.

The long-term effectiveness of measures being taken by local authorities and others to mitigate gaps in the skills and knowledge within planning departments

51. A significant number of local authorities have made very effective use of their allocations of Planning Delivery Grant to recruit internally and place these staff on part-time or other blended delivery planning education programmes. By this means they bring on staff who are known to them, already committed to local government and who can work while they learn.

52. It is not clear yet exactly how the new Housing and Planning Delivery Grant will work. CLG has said that " ... HPDG will be unringfenced and so can be used according to local priorities," but nevertheless its clearly stated purpose is " ... to incentivise increased housing delivery and improved plan-making to address local needs. On that basis our proposed allocation mechanism for consists of two elements, one for housing delivery and one for planning."[51] This seems likely to discourage the focus on long-term investment in education and training, and that is regrettable.

53. There is overall no shortage of courses offering skills-development to planners, or elected members. There is a significant amount of capacity in some (not all) planning schools to develop new courses to meet new demand. There is the capacity to carry out the research to establish shifts in, and likely new, demand, although it needs better co-ordination (see paragraph 45).

54. Again, the single greatest problem is on the demand side rather than the supply side. Local government is either not a sufficiently willing or a sufficiently able customer for continuing professional or other skills development. For this there is a variety of reasons, ranging from shortage of resources to recruit staff, inability to retain permanent staff, lack of funds to support skills development or simply a set of priorities which does not recognise the need to allocate resources to this.

55. So far from a programme of effective long-term measures, the general picture is of a failure to meet any more than the most immediate needs. There is no reason for any general optimism unless and until we can change that.

Annex A

ACCREDITED QUALIFICATIONS AND STUDENT NUMBERS

ACCREDITED PLANNING SCHOOLS

25 Planning Schools currently offer qualifications accredited by the RTPI, and two Schools have provisional accreditation.

Accredited and provisionally accredited planning schools are distributed in England (20 schools), Scotland (5), Wales (1), Northern Ireland (1), the Irish Republic (2) and Hong Kong (1).

2. ACCREDITED QUALIFICATIONS

The following qualifications are accredited by the RTPI:

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

Total: 111

3. NUMBER OF STUDENTS (2006-07 ACADEMIC YEAR)

Extracted from "Annual statistical returns from planning schools: results for the 2006-07 academic year", RTPI August 2007.[52]

Table 1

STUDENT ENTRY TO FIRST YEAR OF RTPI-ACCREDITED COURSES IN THE 2006-07 ACADEMIC YEAR


Type of course	Number of courses	Full-time		Part-time		Distance		Other modes		Total number
		No	%	No	%	No	%	No	%

Intensive one-year Masters	17	405	50	405	50	-	-	2	<1	812
Other combined Masters	6	9	10	10	11	72	79	-	-	91
Spatial/specialistMasters	11	72	71	29	29	-	-	-	-	101
All postgraduate courses	34	486	48	444	44	72	7	2	<1	1,004
Undergraduate courses	21	500	97	18	3	-	-	-	-	518
All courses	55	986	65	462	30	72	5	2	<1	1,522

Table 2

TOTAL ENROLMENT FOR ALL YEARS, INCLUDING YEAR 1, ON RTPI-ACCREDITED COURSES IN THE 2006-07 ACADEMIC YEAR


Type of course	Number of courses	Full-time		Part-time		Distance		Other modes		Total number
		No	%	No	%	No	%	No	%

Intensive one-year Masters	17	422	33	843	66	-	-	18	1	1,283
Other combined Masters	10	97	27	45	12	221	60	3	1	366
Spatial/specialistMasters	11	72	53	56	42	-	-	7	5	135
All postgraduate courses	38	591	33	944	53	221	12	28	2	1,784
Undergraduate courses	28	1,633	94	105	6	-	-	2	<1	1,741
All courses	66	2,224	63	1,049	30	221	6	31	1	3,525

Annex B

RTPI CONFERENCE TOPICS OFFERED IN 2007

RTPI CONFERENCES MOST POPULAR CONFERENCES AND CLASSES 2007

Planning

Conference Delegates Outings per year

Planning Convention[53] 722 1

Planning law update 248 2

Current issues in planning 151 1

Design in the planning process 128 1

Renewable energy 127 1

Local Development Frameworks 125 1

Personal Management Skills

Course Delegates Outings per year

Negotiation skills 99 4

Results focused time management 55 4

Project management for everyone 53 3

Introduction to management 45 2

Effective report writing 32 2

Masterclass

Course Delegates Outings per year

Giving evidence at inquiries 65 2

Making development happen 59 2

Urban design 48 3

Strategicc environmental assessments 42 2

Local development frameworks 38 2

Introduction to design appraisal 34 2

(occurrence, where more than once, in brackets)

SELECTED TOPICS—PLANNING

Affordable housing

Appeals and LDFs

Built environment conservation

Current approaches to open space

Design in the planning process

Development management

Economic development: The new PPS4

Engaging communities

Enforcement update

E-planning

From planning gain to infrastructure funding

Getting the best development on the site

Housing design

Housing pressures

Inner city renewal

Key planning issues 2008

Leisure and tourism

Local development frameworks

Mixed use developments

Planning and health in the community

Planning for climate change: implications of PPS26

Planning for the natural environment

Planning law update

Regional spatial strategies

Renewable energy

Retail and town centres (2)

Rural regeneration

Successful delivery—successful regeneration

Sustainable communities—a tool kit

Transport

Underpinning sustainable communities

Understanding development finance

Understanding the design appraisal process

Urban design

Waste management

PERSONAL SKILLS

Effective report writing

Effective talent management

Introduction to management

Negotiation skills

Perfect presentations

Project management for everyone

Results focused time management

MASTERCLASSES

An introduction to design appraisal

Delivering good developments

Giving evidence at inquiries

Local development frameworks

Making development happen

Renewable energy

Strategic environmental assessments

Urban design: the art of making successful places

FREE AND LOW COST EVENTS FROM RTPI REGIONS, NATIONS, NETWORKS AND EVENTS 2008

This a representative selection of events scheduled for 2008 which are provided either free or at low cost to respond to local requirements.

Design and access statements

Life after decent homes

Planning law update

Planning performance agreements

Planning the South East's future

Working together to deliver housing targets

LDFs—where are we, and where are we heading?

Renewable energy and energy efficiency—making it happen

Planning law—new directions

Developments with development plans

Housing: modern.living or changing fashion?

The Scottish housing challenge: can planners deliver?

The historic environment

Regional spatial strategy

Planning and climate change

RTPI Networks Conference

Planning for housing—three million extra homes by 20207!

Planning and transport

Miscellany of planning law

Development Control

Development Management

AAP's in practice: study tour of Birmingham

Rural land use: debating the future

Economic development

Rural planning update

Planning administrators' workshop

Planning and climate change

Wales planning conference

1948 to 2008—How far have we come and where are we going?

Masterplanning in an. historic environment

Planning and economic development

Planning and sustainable design

Street planning design

Preparing to win planning inquiries

Tourism—can a tourist attraction really achieve `economic renaissance'?

Development plans update 2008

Employment planning policy for the 21st century

LDFs and emerging best practice

Promoting sustainable transport

Planning law update 2008

Conservation—design

Development management

Development control update

Making development happen

Retail planning

Brushing up on planning skills: preparing and giVing evidence

Spatial strategic planning

Annex C

TRAINING BUDGETS IN LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Information on budget expenditure per head of planning staff is difficult to procure, not least because budgets are held in very different ways across authorities.

A survey of twenty local authorities by RTPI and its agents showed that:

— Training budgets vary significantly, with a small sample showing a range from £100-£500 per head per year.

— Smaller district councils are unlikely to have annual training budgets in excess of £5k for between 10 and 15 staff. Larger authorities, including unitaries and counties, understandably generally have larger and more flexible budgets.

— Practice varies whether training budgets also cover sponsorship of initial professional education, or the payment of subscriptions. Where these are included in training budgets larger figures can mask a low spend on ongoing professional development for mid-career planners.

— In some authorities, the above costs and any "loyalty payments" are allocated out of salary budgets, which therefore supports the training budget.

— Many LAs have drawn down on PDG into the training budget, and now express concerns at how they will be able to continue to deliver training following the demise of PDG.

— Many LA planners have seen or are anticipating significant cuts in their training budgets.

— Undeniably, LAs are finding it difficult to recruit at the level of experienced planners. It is therefore not at all unusual to find two or three Chartered planners working alongside and supporting five or six unqualified planners working towards Chartered status and at various stages of their planning education. This also puts pressure on the Chartered planners' time in terms of undertaking their own CPD.

Annex E

SKILL REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE IN SPATIAL PLANNING

Updating on the role and direction of public service reform

Collection and use of evidence

Visioning

Scenario building

Scoping

Modelling alternative outcomes

Evaluative methods

Decision and resolution techniques

Benefits realisation from IT systems for business processes, monitoring and performance

Networking