Can the planning system afford these reforms?

In 1947, the Labour Minister for Town and Country Planning, Lewis Silkin, began his speech on the proposed Town and Country Planning Act by stating that:

Silkin went on to describe how planning could help tackle issues with housing quality, industry, social services, transport, natural resources, and protecting the countryside. He pointed out that, “If each is considered in isolation, the common interest is bound to suffer.”

A greater proportion of development management will be funded by fees, with less local control over fee setting.

Other planning services should be funded through developer contributions

If I am understanding the proposals correctly, the government seems to be suggesting the their new proposed fixed Infrastructure Levy (IL) will do all of the following (see proposal 22):

The reforms and new technology will make planning services more efficient

Rather than these proposed reforms adding the additional burden that every other round of planning reform has delivered, the government implies that this time it will be different, and by streamlining processes these reforms will actually reduce the burden on planners (whilst also delivering a world-class system). There are also a number of references to how digital technologies will make planning more efficient. The clear implication is that these changes will lessen the need to fix the resourcing crisis.

It is debatable whether the proposed reforms would be able to make decision making more ‘efficient’ whilst maintaining a high quality service, but that is a whole other blog. Greater investment in digital transformation will make it easier for planning officers to do their jobs. However, the government needs to be clear about where this investment will come from, and I don’t think it’s realistic to suggest that digital technology or as yet untested ‘streamlining’ will plug holes in resourcing whilst securing improved outcomes.

Time limited funding to support the transition to the new system

This statement is a crucial acknowledgement of the additional burdens that these reforms will put on the planning system and we need to see more detailed impact assessments of the cost of each and every additional burden represented in these proposals.

Perhaps the acknowledgement that some transitional funding will be required suggests a return to something approximating the Planning Delivery Grant. The government must be realistic about how much will be needed to make a severely under-resourced planning system capable of delivering new local plans for a new planning system in 30 months along with all the other burdens introduced.

Conclusion

If i’m feeling positive I’d say these proposals were put together quickly and much of the above remains to be worked out. Indeed Planning for the Future does suggest that further proposals for improving resourcing are coming. If the government is realistic about the amount of transitional funding required it might provide a much needed cash injection to support the digitisation of planning and to help local planning authorities begin to recover from years of austerity. It is also possible that the government is planning a major infrastructure spend which would reduce pressure on developer contributions, freeing up money for other priorities identified above. There is even a brief acknowledgement in the white paper that it might be appropriate to continue to use public money given the public benefits coming from planning.

However, it’s difficult to feel this positivity given the consultation does not even have a question about the approach to resourcing and there is only a month left until the deadline for the Comprehensive Spending Review (assuming it is not delayed).

This is a great opportunity to invest in planning to help it tackle the huge range of the issues we need it to help address. But privatising the funding of planning and being unrealistic about the scale of investment needed would be a backwards step.

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