Survey: Local planning teams lack capacity to deliver strategic objectives

Our planning news is published in association with The Planner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Two-thirds (66 per cent) of local authority planning and placemaking professionals say their teams do not have the capacity to meet their authority’s strategic objectives, according to a survey. 

The survey by Public Practice, a not-for-profit social enterprise, found that 66 per cent of local government place professionals who responded do not believe that their teams have the necessary bandwidth and skills to tackle their authority’s top priorities. 

The Recruitment and Skills Survey was designed by Public Practice with the aim to help understand the skills gaps and the impact that a lack of resources has on local authority placemaking professionals and their teams across England. 

Public Practice said the poll responses appear to show that both the morale and job satisfaction of placemaking professionals are being affected by the lack of capacity. Additionally, more than two-fifths of respondents say their team is not currently an accurate reflection of the diversity of the population that they serve. 

Pooja Agrawal, CEO of Public Practice, said: “We are pleased to create a new evidence base for the capacity challenges facing local authorities. 

“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. 

“We need this honest feedback to help better understand what prevents them from achieving the strategic objectives that attracted them to their jobs in the first place.” 

Survey results also show that: 

• 54 per cent said their councils had difficulty retaining staff. 
• 14 per cent said they wish 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 last year. This score is much lower than metrics recorded across the broader workforce, which report work satisfaction at between 7 and 8. 
• 78 per cent of placemaking professionals said their council had difficulty attracting appropriately qualified or skilled candidates to fill the capacity gaps in their teams. 
• 7 per cent said their recruitment activities failed to attract a suitable candidate. 
• 65 per cent of placemaking professionals said their team did not have enough skills in environmental sustainability, 62 per cent said their team did not possess enough data and digital skills, and 61 per cent said their team lacked sufficient architecture, urban design and masterplanning capacity. 
• 43 per cent said their team had a lack of capacity in planning and policy. 

Public Practice highlighted the latest Local Government Association (LGA) analysis of data published by the ONS, which shows the number of full-time positions in local government has fallen to 921,991 in Q4 of 2022 down from 1.34 million in Q4 of 2012. 

In addition to this probe, the social enterprise has conducted a survey with the first four cohorts who took part in its Associate Programme, in which it places professionals at local authorities and other public sector organisations for a year. These associates were employed in their placements between spring 2018 to spring 2020. 

The results showed that two years after placements had ended, Public Practice had achieved a 77 per cent retention rate in the public sector. 

To date, Public Practice has placed 296 placemaking professionals in 78 local authorities across England. 

Victoria Hills, chief executive at the RTPI, 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 struggling under the weight of budget reductions, resulting in unmanageable workloads and overstretched staff. 

“Without well-resourced, qualified planners, local planning authorities cannot meet the crucial housing and infrastructure needs of our communities. Whilst we welcome recent announcements on the planning skills delivery fund, we must urgently address the systemic resourcing issues to safeguard both our economy and the well-being of planners.” 

Sara Whelan, assistant director of planning at Dacorum Borough Council, commented: “This survey paints an accurate picture of the challenges council teams face. We need to have an honest conversation about why job satisfaction is low in council place teams. 

“Planning is about placemaking and should not be seen as a barrier, this is likely to have an impact on morale and job satisfaction as much as resourcing and backlogs will do. 

“For example, research shows that more than 90 per cent of planning enforcement teams have a backlog – this will naturally have a negative impact on job satisfaction as planning teams are on the back foot as a result. 

“To reduce the backlog, councils need to consider all options including temporary increases in hours and pay to help teams reduce the backlog. 

“Local authority planning is a brilliant career and gives you an opportunity to make a positive difference to people’s lives in a way that few other jobs can.” 

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has launched the £24 million Planning Skills Delivery Fund to support local authorities over the next two years to tackle backlogs in planning applications and boost their internal capacity. 

5 October 2023 
Laura Edgar, The Planner