Mike Kiely, chair of the Planning Officers Society, calls on the next government to build a more efficient and effective planning system.

The UK is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe with the 8th largest economy in the world. Harnessing the opportunities provided by the planning system to achieve a better future for all will be vital over the coming years. By nurturing the conditions needed to achieve sustainable economic growth, meeting the needs of our growing population, creating vibrant and healthy places, responding to the climate change challenge, whilst maintaining and enhancing our rich legacy of natural, built and historic assets we can create a real legacy for future generations. Indeed, Government has consistently had this expectation of the planning system, and this is unlikely to change any time soon.

The planning system provides a clear and stable platform for investment in a congested island where there is intense pressure on land. The system has proved to be remarkably adaptable since its introduction in 1947 as it has responded to economic circumstances and changing demands. It remains our best means of managing change with communities playing a key role in shaping their area’s future. It is within this context that we have set out our ‘asks’ to any new government.

First and foremost, we need to see proper resourcing across the public sector – planning officers rely on the expertise of others in the public sector to enable them to undertake their duties – and there needs to be a clear recognition by politicians at all levels of Government of planning’s value to society. The number of planners working in the public sector shrank by a quarter between 2009 and 2020, while median salaries have effectively fallen from £50,000 in 2005 to £33,000 today, according to a Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) report published in November 2023. This has been coupled with additional expectations being made of the system whether it be responding to the climate emergency or supporting town centre regeneration.

We know the system isn’t perfect, but we have seen continual ‘ad hoc’ changes which have resulted in it becoming overly complicated and confusing to communities. It hinders rather than helps us achieve the social, economic and environmental goals that we want to – and should – be delivering.

A classic example has been the continual relaxation of permitted development rights and how different uses of land and property are defined. Since 2015 there have been 36 statutory instruments resulting in nearly 600 individual changes to the original Permitted Development Order, which have increased the number of development proposals that fall outside of planning control or can only be given a ‘light-touch’ assessment. This has significantly reduced our ability to deliver our aims and reduced our ability to secure contributions towards the infrastructure and services needed to mitigate the effects of development. We are up for the challenges that have been set by successive governments, but we need the tools to do so.

We anticipate that any new Government will to want to make further changes. We would urge that these are informed by fully engaging with planners in the public sector to ensure that they are proportionate, coherent, workable and avoid unintended consequences.

Our ‘Planning Manifesto’, supported by a series of Manifesto Background Papers, look in more detail at a range of specific issues that we believe need addressing. These provide an informed starting point for debate. We urge the new Government to work with us on our approach to building a more efficient and effective planning system which we believe will:

• address the housing crisis

• support the development of sustained economic prosperity

• ensure all areas have appropriate and effective strategic planning arrangements in place and designate at the national level areas of major growth

• provide for the growing need for jobs, homes and leisure

• ensure that the infrastructure necessary to support development is funded

• create safe and secure communities

• deliver sustainable development

• leave a positive legacy for future generations

For more on what local government stakeholders want from the next government, check out the following articles from our NextGov series:

NextGov: What the next government should do for children’s services

NextGov: Scrapping the two-child benefit cap

NextGov: Revitalising local democracy

UNISON: To whoever forms the next government…

NextGov: Boosting social mobility

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