Planner shortages: industry calls for action

Michael Donnelly, PlanningResource, 24 July 2008

Liz Peace, chief executive of the BPF, said: The majority of this report is welcome, but it’s time for some action after a decade of frustration. Our over-complex and unresponsive planning system costs businesses and the taxpayer millions and is putting regeneration and economic growth at risk.

One of the principal problems is the lack of suitably trained and experienced planning officers; it needs to be tackled by serious investment in planning as a career for graduates and a recognition of the skills needed to make the whole system run efficiently.
 
Local councillors must also get proper training. It is incredible that those involved in a quasi-judicial process do not have to have formal training. You wouldn’t hire an accountant or lawyer without the appropriate certificate, so how can councillors take big decisions about developments without an understanding of, amongst other things, development economics?
 
However, it is pointless beefing up skills and numbers if they are then employed on low level tasks that do not require that level of skills. We need to ensure that the skilled planners we do have are used on ‘quality’ planning issues and not diverted onto domestic cases that could well be dealt with by a technician.

RICS spokesperson Damian Cleghorn said: "Despite review after review and recommendation after recommendation, labour and skills shortages have not been reduced. It is imperative that this situation changes if the government is to deliver upon its targets for housing, regeneration and infrastructure.

As a start, the government needs to introduce more conversion courses for mid-life professionals who may wish to switch careers and a more comprehensive strategy for encouraging school leavers into planning. Failure to turn this situation around will result in the UK becoming a less competitive business environment, hindering investment in the local economy."

John Slaughter, director of external affairs at the Home Builders Federation said: "We support the CLG Committees central findings. Housing delivery and the creation of sustainable communities depend critically on there being sufficient planners with the right skills.

It is becoming a more demanding world for all of us but we have got to take the opportunity now to invest in the planning skills base for when the housing market recovers. To not do so would be folly and disrupt housing delivery for years to come.

Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: "This report paints an extremely worrying picture about the future of housebuilding, and raises major concerns about the government's ability to deliver the 3 million homes this country desperately needs.

"The brain drain of local government planners has been a long-standing problem that both local and national government have failed to solve. "If Britain is to avoid an rapidly worsening housing shortage, and the millions of people looking for an affordable home are to be helped, an action plan must be developed to ensure there are enough planners to help develop enough houses."