Planning teams ‘too stretched to tackle targets’

Two-thirds of local authority planning and placemaking professionals say their teams are too stretched to meet strategic objectives. A survey by not-for-profit social enterprise Public Practice found 66% of local government place professionals think their team lacks the capacity and skills to tackle council priorities, including reducing inequality and poverty, and net zero targets. Pooja Agrawal, chief executive of Public Practice, said the survey results were “honest feedback” that can help councils and their team members “better understand what prevents them from achieving the strategic objectives”. “Public sector placemakers are ambitious for the places they serve and want to do their best for residents. No one wants to join a local authority just to fulfil their minimum statutory duties,” Agrawal said. “It is interesting to note the breadth of responses from place professionals saying their teams lack capacity in sustainability, data, urban design and masterplanning. While fewer professionals said they had a capacity challenge with planning, we understand from our roundtable that the planning capacity gap can be a much deeper challenge in some authorities due to the backlog of planning applications.” More than half of the 256 respondents (54%) said their councils had difficulty retaining staff, with one in seven (14%) saying they want to leave the public sector. The average job satisfaction score reported by a public sector place professional in England was 5.66 out of 10, down from 6.32 in the same survey a year ago. Diversity was flagged as a key concern, with more than two-fifths of respondents saying their team does not accurately reflect the diversity of the population it serves. Victoria Hills, chief executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, said: “The results of this research reveal a concerning reality for local authorities, but provide an accurate depiction of what we are seeing in our own research. On the ground, local planning authorities are struggling under the weight of budget reductions, resulting in unmanageable workloads and overstretched staff.” Rob Perrins, chief executive of Berkeley Group, said: “Local authority planning teams are the gateway to investment in local communities and have a hugely positive impact on people’s health, wellbeing and life chances. But these departments are deeply under-resourced and, through no fault of their own, are struggling to fulfil the demands of an increasingly complex and prescriptive planning system. “Local authorities must be given the secure long-term funding they need to expand these expert teams so they can create great places and unlock the investment, regeneration and growth our town and cities so badly need.” To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@eg.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @EGPropertyNews