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COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SELECT COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO PLANNING SKILLS
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY MEMORANDUM
SUMMARY
The Environment Agency is a statutory consultee in the planning process. We welcome this opportunity to contribute to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee's inquiry into 'Planning Skills' as planning skills are vital to delivering an effective spatial planning system that promotes sustainable development and protects and enhances the environment.
We employ a significant number of planners and we interact with every local planning authority in England and Wales as well as with many planners in other organisations, agencies and companies. Our response is focussed on our experience of the skills needs and training of local authority planners, our experience in trying to recruit planning personnel with appropriate skills and our own attempts to develop skills in our planning staff.
KEY ISSUES
· The Environment Agency continues to experience difficulties in the recruitment of qualified and experienced planning staff due to the relative scarcity of planners in the market place. We have committed to 'growing our own' planners and have developed our own structured training and development programme.
· The Communities and Local Government (CLG) bursary scheme to encourage planning students has been very successful and it appears to have both raised the profile of planning as a degree and career option and the intake of planning students.
· An understanding of all three elements of sustainable development (economy, social progress and the environment), how they are interconnected, and the relevance of sustainable development to planning is an essential component of initial education and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for all those involved in planning.
· With planning increasingly being asked to deal with complex technical issues it is essential that planners understand the relevant policy background and that they have a basic understanding of the issues involved. However, planners should not be expected to be experts in everything and consequently they should know how and where to access further advice when required.
· We believe that initial planning education does not provide enough coverage of all environmental planning issues. All planners should have a background understanding of environmental planning as it impinges on all aspects of planning work.
· In particular, with both the Barker Review of Planning and the Planning White Paper identifying climate change as one of the big challenges facing planning in the future it is essential that planning is used to adapt to the climate change England and Wales is already locked into and to help ensure mitigating carbon emissions forms a core part of planning training and development in the future.
· Councillors are the people ultimately charged with taking planning decisions and it is important that they receive an appropriate level of training in planning policy and legislation, and environmental and sustainable development issues. This needs to be kept up to date through a continuing professional development-type process. Some local authorities have established excellent training regimes and this lead should be followed by other councils.
· If Local Member Review Bodies are established for the determination of minor appeals, as per the proposals in the Planning Bill, then it is important that elected Members are fully trained in the quasi-judicial nature of this role, which is different to the role they normally play in planning committee decisions. This quasi -judicial role should be supported by independent planning law advice in the form of a person qualified in planning law and process who is independently responsible for review proceedings and not managed within the planning department.
· Greater understanding amongst LPA planners of the role of the statutory agencies within the planning system would be beneficial. Training comes in many forms and job swaps or shadowing should be considered amongst public sector planners to increase understanding of each other's roles and so improve the planning process.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Environment Agency welcomes this opportunity to contribute to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee's inquiry into 'Planning Skills'. We are charged with protecting and improving the environment and making an appropriate contribution to achieving sustainable development. We work across all levels of government. We have a key role to play as a technical adviser (consultee) to local planning authorities (LPAs) on a range of issues such as flood risk, contaminated land, biodiversity, water resources, water quality, navigation, fisheries, water-based recreation, waste and minerals. We are a 'specific consultation body' for Regional Spatial Strategies (RSSs), Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs), and a 'consultation body' for Sustainability Appraisal of plans. We are also a 'statutory consultee' under Article 10 of the Town and Country Planning General Development Procedure Order for many types of development application and for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of plans and programmes and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of projects.
1.2 LPAs (and applicants) consult us on approximately 50,000 planning applications and pre application enquiries annually. To carry out this work the Environment Agency employs approximately 250 dedicated planning staff located at national, regional and local levels throughout England and Wales. They in turn call upon technical experts in the Environment Agency to provide comments on development. Many of our staff are young planners starting out on their planning careers augmented by more senior planners with many years experience. 10% of our staff are fully qualified 'chartered' planners (Members of the Royal Town Planning Institute, MRTPI), with a further 23% of our staff either currently attending an accredited RTPI course or being graduates waiting to qualify.
1.3 In addition to accredited RTPI training we organise a range of in-house training courses aimed at improving and keeping up to date the technical planning skills of our staff, particularly in relation to environmental planning and sustainable development, and also the wider people skills required for our planners to influence plans, planning applications and individual developments effectively.
1.4 On occasions some of our area teams organise training courses for LPA staff on policy issues of particular importance to us, such as when new Planning Policy Statements, such as that on 'Development and Flood Risk' (PPS 25), are published and on associated technical issues such as Strategic Flood Risk Assessments and Flood Risk Assessments for individual developments.
2.0 OUR RESPONSE TO THE ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMITTEE.
Recent changes to the range and detail of knowledge and skills needed by staff within planning departments. 2.1 There have been major changes in the planning system in recent years, such as the move to spatial planning - an approach that aims for a greater degree of partnership to agree a plan for an area that co-ordinates the actions of many public and private bodies in that area. Planners now require a wide skills and knowledge base. With planning increasingly being asked to deal with complex technical issues it is essential that planners understand the relevant policy background under which they operate. The Barker Review of Land Use Planning recommended the need to "improve skills, including through... training for members and officers, and wider use of business process reviews" [1].
2.2 Planners need a basic understanding of the issues involved. However, it would be difficult for individual planners to obtain and keep up to date in all of the skills and knowledge required to deliver successful development schemes. Thus in many cases LPAs will need to establish specialists in certain subject areas. This is not a new solution, as subjects such as minerals and waste planning have been dealt with as specialisms for many years.
2.3 Even where individual planners have specialisms, they cannot be expected to be experts in everything and consequently they should know where to access further advice when it is required. For example they may need to call on expert advice on issues such as sustainable construction, Environmental Impact Assessment or Flood Risk Assessment. This might be from an in house expert, or an expert shared between local authorities, or retained consultants or planning consultees. The Barker Review of Planning noted the potential for local authorities to work together more often in partnership on planning applications "there should be increased use of joint-working with private sector providers, greater use of shared services with other authorities, and the use of accredited consultants to undertake technical assessments"[2]. The sharing of technical expertise and training is an area to which this recommendation could usefully be applied.
2.4 Due to the ever widening scope of planning, the broad range of skills/knowledge required is more of a problem for LPAs who, unless they choose to hire a specialist consultant, have to be able to provide a planning response on any issue. For other bodies, and agencies such as the Environment Agency, this is less of a problem, as our field of interest in the planning system is more restricted. Even so, we find it increasingly difficult to appoint staff with the skills and knowledge we require.
2.5 Following the publication of PPS1 'Delivering Sustainable Development'[3], sustainable development is now the core principle underpinning planning. We believe that a sound understanding of sustainable development and its relevance to planning should be a foundation component of all planning education. This includes an understanding of key concepts such as the Code for Sustainable Homes, adaptation to climate change, water neutrality, carbon reduction, etc. Because of the interconnection of sustainable development a further essential skill is that of encouraging a holistic approach (e.g. systems thinking) to determine impacts on the environment, society, and the economy.
2.6 In particular, there is a need for the planning profession and elected members to develop their skills on climate change and planning - both its role in adapting to climate change already in train and in mitigating potential future climate change. The PPS1 supplement 'Planning and Climate Change'[4] emphasises the important role that planning should play in both these areas. This issue will loom large in future plans and the careers of most planners now starting their professional lives. It is essential that planners have a sound understanding of the issues involved and that their skills anticipate future needs. Training based on the PPS1 supplement and the accompanying practice guide would be a good starting point for CPD for current planners and higher education courses for future planners.
2.7 With the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy in the Planning Bill, planners will also need to develop a better understanding of development economics and the range of infrastructure required by new development. Many LPA planners think of infrastructure simply in terms of roads and schools, others will consider the need for health facilities, but few fully take into account the environmental, or 'hidden', infrastructure that is often essential for development to take place, such as the provision of adequate water supply, effective waste reduction and management, waste water treatment, flood management, biodiversity and green space.
The main areas where a lack of skills is most pronounced. 2.8 We believe that initial planning education does not provide enough coverage of all environmental planning issues. Many planning staff commence employment with the Environment Agency with core generic planning skills, but require further specialist training in environmental planning. This covers an understanding of issues such as land contamination, flood risk, water quality, waste planning etc. We believe these skills/knowledge are generally in short supply within LPAs and in many cases technical experts are now less prevalent than they were in the past, for example the numbers of drainage engineers within local authorities has fallen. As a consequence many LPAs now increasingly rely on advice from the Environment Agency on fluvial and coastal flood risk matters. The summer 2007 floods demonstrated the need to also take surface water drainage into account in planning decisions.
2.9 We believe that all planners should have some background understanding of environmental planning, which impinges on all aspects of planning work - for instance, taking account of issues like contaminated land, flood risk, the availability of water resources and sewage treatment and discharges to water courses when considering planning proposals for major developments such as sustainable communities. In particular, with both the Barker Review of Planning and the Planning White Paper[5] identifying climate change as one of the big challenges facing planning in the future it is essential that we use planning to adapt to the climate change we are already locked into and to help ensure mitigating carbon emissions forms a core part of planning training and development in the future.
2.10 In addition planners need to be aware of new legislation in other fields that have an impact upon spatial planning. The EU Water Framework Directive (2000), the most substantial piece of European water legislation to date, is such a case. It applies to all surface and ground water bodies in the UK, and has significant implications for both spatial and development control or management. As of December 2006, new modifications to the physical characteristics of surface water bodies, or alterations to the levels of groundwater bodies, must be in compliance with the Water Framework Directive. Lack of compliance can result in a breach of Directive requirements, and the potential for legal proceedings, and yet few LPA planners have any understanding of the Directive, its implications, or how they should take it into account in their day to day planning work. The Environment Agency in conjunction with the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Local Government Association has produced initial advice for planners on the Water Framework Directive[6].
The skills needed by, and level of training provided to, councillors who make planning decisions, including on the proposed local member review bodies. 2.11 Policy and legislation on planning, the environment and sustainable development is continually changing, as is best practice. Often the pace of change is rapid. Through our monitoring of LPA planning decisions, we are aware of decisions where both officers and members do not appear to have fully understood the latest planning legislation/policy changes, and /or the environmental implications of their decisions. For example, PPS25 requires the developer in certain instances to provide a flood risk assessment (FRA) to accompany an application and inform the decision making process. However, on occasions, members have approved an application without having had the benefit of seeing a FRA to inform their decision, but have imposed a condition requiring one to be prepared later. But this is 'after the event' and is not, in our view, a correct interpretation of PPS25. It is essential that such simple misunderstandings of policy are avoided and it is important, therefore, that those councillors required to make planning decisions, receive an appropriate level of training in planning policy and legislation, environmental and sustainable development issues, and that this is continually kept up to date through a continuing professional development (CPD)-type process.
2.12 In particular, if Local Member Review Bodies are established as per the proposals in the Planning Bill, allowing minor appeals to be determined by members where decisions have been made by LPA officers under delegated powers, it will be important that elected Members are fully conversant with new planning policy. They must also be trained in the quasi-judicial nature of this role, which is different to the role they normally play in planning committee decisions. This quasi -judicial role should be supported by independent planning law advice. An analogy is that of the role of the Clerk to the Magistrates' Courts. We would suggest that each LPA retain or employ a person qualified in planning law and process independently responsible for review proceedings and not managed within the planning department.
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 in the demands placed upon planning departments. 2.13 There sometimes appears to be a lack of understanding of the role of statutory agencies, such as the Environment Agency, amongst LPA planners. Some LPAs think our responsibilities are much wider than they actually are, resulting in us being consulted on applications that we do not wish to see. Greater understanding of the role of statutory consultees within the spatial planning system and of the development applications we should be consulted on would be beneficial. This could be addressed as part of the proposed review of the Town and Country Planning General Development Procedure Order by Communities and Local Government.
2.14 Existing planning legislation and policy requires the Environment Agency to provide LPAs with specialist advice in a number of important policy areas related to our expertise. An example is the assessment of flood risk. The Environment Agency undertakes extensive modelling, provides LPAs (and developers and the public) with maps indicating the probability of flood risk, and advises on strategic and individual flood risk assessments covering both the magnitude and consequences of flood risk, to assist planning officers and councillors in planning decisions involving flood risk. The Environment Agency has provided LPAs with a tool, Flood Risk Standing Advice, to assist LPAs in dealing with minor applications where there is a low risk of flooding.
2.15 The Environment Agency regularly updates its maps and tools, incorporating the latest information from e.g. flood events such as the summer floods of 2007, to ensure that planning officers and councillors have the very latest information before them when making decisions.
2.16 The Environment Agency takes very seriously its duty to respond to planning consultations from LPAs in a timely manner. We are consulted by LPAs (and developers) on approximately 50,000 planning applications and pre-application enquiries per annum which require our specialist knowledge. The Environment Agency has a duty to respond to all planning consultations from LPAs within 21 days, or such other period as may be agreed in writing. In 2006/07 we responded to 88% within 21 days, or such other period as may be agreed in writing (89% for application consultations and 83% for pre-application enquiries).
2.17 In recent years, following major changes in the planning system, we have carried out reviews of our planning resource, to ensure that we have sufficient planning staff in the locations where they are most needed. As a result we have increased the size of our planning resource within our Area teams from 220 in 2007 to 250 in 2008.
The long term effectiveness of measures being taken by local authorities and others to mitigate gaps in the skills and knowledge within planning departments. 2.18 In response to the difficulties experienced with recruitment and retention of planning staff, the Environment Agency has for the past year been running a 'Workforce Planning Project' to consider possible solutions to these issues. We are currently experiencing a high turnover of planning staff (18.5% over the past year) and 13.5% of our planning posts are currently vacant. Research has identified that we have a relatively inexperienced workforce (two thirds of staff have been in post for less than 3 years) so both recruitment and training are identified priorities.
2.19 Nationally, we experience problems recruiting to the posts that require a high level of knowledge and planning experience. The approach we are taking is to 'grow our own' i.e. recruit less experienced staff and train them up to be fully qualified. To this end, we have developed a structured training and development programme (a 'Technical Development Framework') for our planning staff which will be piloted during March and April 2008 and rolled out nationally by the end of September. This training programme covers all the technical aspects of planning and environmental issues that we expect our Area planning staff to acquire from induction at an administrative level right through to the highest technical level. We also intend applying for RTPI 'Learning Partners' accreditation when this training programme has been rolled out. Our training programme will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure any new legislation or training requirements are fully incorporated.
3.0 CONCLUSIONS
3.1 The Environment Agency welcomes the establishment of the inquiry into the 'skills capacity within local government to deliver sustainable communities', and more particularly this inquiry into Planning Skills. We believe that an understanding of sustainable development, and its relevance to planning, should be a central component of all planning education and training. In addition, all planners should have some background knowledge of environmental planning as it impinges on all aspects of planning work.
FEBRUARY 2008
[1] Barker Review (Dec 2006), Barker Review of Land Use Planning, Final Report - Recommendations, The Stationery Office [2] Barker Review of Land Use Planning, paragraph 23 [3] Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2005) Delivering Sustainable Development', The Stationery Office [4] Communities and Local Government et al (December 2006) PPS1 Supplement Planning and Climate Change, The Stationery Office [5] Communities and Local Government et al (May 2007) Planning for a Sustainable Future, The Stationery Office [6] Environment Agency, et al (February 2006) The Water Framework Directive and Planning - initial advice to planning authorities in England and Wales, Environment Agency |