{"id":126547,"date":"2023-05-16T10:52:29","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T09:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=126547"},"modified":"2023-05-16T15:22:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T14:22:57","slug":"local-authorities-suffer-quarter-public-sector-planners-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/local-authorities-suffer-quarter-public-sector-planners-leave\/126547\/","title":{"rendered":"Local authorities suffer as a quarter of public sector planners leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

A RTPI survey has found that the private sector has seen an 80% increase in employed planners, whilst one in four public sector planners have left the industry<\/h2>\n

A quarter of planners left the public sector between 2013 and 2020, according to an analysis from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).<\/p>\n

Key issues identified in the latest update to the RTPI’s Interim State of the Profession 2023<\/em><\/a> include budget constraints, difficulty hiring and retaining public sector planners and an increased political profile as negatively affecting planning in the UK.<\/p>\n

Not enough staff to handle an ‘unmanageable’ workload<\/h3>\n

The private sector reported an 80% increase in the number of employed planners.<\/p>\n

There are around 22,000 planners in the UK in total, but Local Planning Authorities (LPAs)\u00a0have seen a significant decrease in numbers over the last decade.<\/p>\n

82% of local authority planners said their employer had difficulties hiring planners in the last 12 months and only 8% of job postings for \u201cTown Planning Officers\u201d published between 2016 and 2021 were for public sector roles.<\/p>\n

68% of LPAs see competitive salaries as a key difficulty for local authorities.<\/p>\n

The loss of public sector planners will only worsen the lack of affordable housing<\/h3>\n

Sue Bridge, president of the Royal Town Planning Institute, said: \u201cBudget reductions in local authorities and other public sector agencies are leading to unmanageable workloads, insufficient staff, and overstretched workers.<\/p>\n

“Without a sufficient arsenal of qualified, well-resourced planners, Local Planning Authorities are unable to deliver the affordable homes, public services and critical infrastructure individuals, families, and communities need and which are so vital to our economy.”<\/p>\n

Understanding the impact of planning’s raised political profile<\/h3>\n

Victoria Hills, chief executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute said: \u201cThe planning profession faces challenges to its public image. Political narratives on both left and right frame it as a barrier to the solution to the unfolding housing crisis.<\/p>\n

Previous research by the RTPI found that almost 90% of local authorities<\/a> reported a backlog of planning enforcement cases, with 80% of respondents saying there simply weren’t enough officers to carry out the workload.<\/p>\n

The continued exodus of public sector planners will have only compounded these issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are calls for \u2018planning reform\u2019 on the national level and widespread abuse and mistreatment of planners at the local level. It comes at a detriment to the mental health and working conditions of planners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social media has been identified as a key source of misinformation on local planning issues and has even led to harrassment, with a quarter of planners<\/a> reporting they have been targeted online.<\/p>\n

Planning reforms have been insufficient so far<\/h3>\n

Planning reform has become a key issue for political parties on both sides in recent years as the housing crisis continues, but proposed reforms such as changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)<\/a> have fallen short in the RTPI’s eyes.<\/p>\n

Whilst some claim that stripping back council planning policy will enable faster delivery of housing, concerns have been raised that long-term economic prosperity and sustainability is being sacrificed in favour of quick fixes.<\/p>\n

Sue Bridge continued: \u201cMore must be done to provide adequate resourcing to the planning system. While increased planning fees would be an important first step, we do not see them as a silver bullet to meeting the capacity requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can read more about issues affecting private and public sector planners here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An RTPI survey has found that the private sector has seen an 80% increase in employed planners, whilst one in four public sector planners have left the industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[679,952,660],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-126547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-planning-construction-news","7":"tag-local-plan","8":"tag-planning","9":"tag-skills-shortage"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocal authorities suffer as a quarter of public sector planners leave<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The private sector has seen an 80% increase 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