5 Dec 2006 -  Highlighting the role urban and regional planning plays in deliver sustainable economic development.

The Review was lead by former CBI Economist and a current member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, Kate Barker, who also led a recent Government Review of Housing Supply. 

The Review highlights the vital role urban and regional planning can play to deliver sustainable economic development, particularly in view of the pressures of a growing population especially in the South East, raising incomes, an aging population, climate change and the increasing globalisation of the world economy.

Increasing globalisation and in particular the rise of India and China are major drivers for the Barker Review. The business community have long argued that an increasingly competitive world economy dictates that the UK needs a more flexible and responsive planning system. In response to Barker's publication CBI Deputy Director-General, John Cridland, stated "a sound planning system is vital to economic growth, but businesses have been badly hampered by the slowness and uncertainty of the current process". Cridland also welcomed "Kate Barker's recommendations signal a positive shift in planning culture, and we welcome a cutback in bureaucracy".

Planning White Paper in spring 2007

In a written statement to the House of Commons on 5 December 2006, Communities and Local Government Secretary of State the Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP, agreed with Barker's overall recommendations. She announced that Government will publish a White Paper in spring 2007 in response to Barker's recommendations for improving the "speed, responsiveness and efficiency of land use planning, and for taking forward Kate Barker's and Rod Eddington's (Transport Review) proposals for reform of major infrastructure planning".

Key recommendations of the Barker Review of Land Use Planning

The Review recognises that the planning system has placed a high cost on developers, businesses and communities when the planning system is unnecessarily slow, unpredictable, expensive and bureaucratic. The recommendations focus on three broad areas of;

• streamlining planning policies and processes;
• enhancing flexibility and responsiveness; and a
• more efficient use of land.

» These three areas are elaborated in more depth below but further details can be found on the HM Treasury website.

Streaming planning polices and processes

Major recommendations to streamline planning polices and processes include the:

• substantial rationalisation of national planning guidance;
• improvement of local plan-making processes;
• developing a more risk-based and proportionate approach to regulation;
• greater certainty of timescales with new, individually tailored delivery agreements between planning authorities and developers;
• faster processing of planning appeals and the use of a new Planning Mediation Service;
• a significant reduction in the number of cases suffering delays due to Ministerial call-in; and
• the radical overhaul of the planning system for major infrastructure projects and the establishment of an Independent Planning Commission.

Enhancing the flexibility and responsiveness of the planning system

Key factors in enhancing planning flexibility and responsiveness include:

• allowing minor changes to commercial premises without planning permission;
• updating planning policy guidance to ensure the economic benefits of development applications should be considered in decision-making;
• ensuring plans and decision-makers take better account of relevant price and market signals; and
• promoting more positive planning so that applications are approved unless the economic, social or environmental costs of development outweigh the benefits.

More efficient use of land

The Barker Review also sets out proposals for a more efficient use of land in the context of a population projected to rise to 55 million by 2026. This includes:

• encouraging new development within towns and urban areas through the town-centre first policy, encouraging empty property to be brought into use and by incentivising the use of vacant previously developed land;
• a more positive approach to applications for change of use reflecting UK's flexible and increasingly service-based economy;
• ensuring sufficient supply of land for development that cannot take place in towns and cities. Where this is near existing towns and cities green belt boundaries should be reviewed by regional and local planning authorities; and
• protecting valued green space in urban areas and taking a more positive approach to green belt applications.

Skills and the planning profession

Kate Barker recognised that that further progress is needed to develop the skills-base of town planners. The report recognised that planning performance could be improved by "addressing perceived difficulties in resources and skills, so that planning departments are in a position to provide a high quality service".

Barker argues that planners require Continuing Professional Development as many have received their professional training many decades ago, with professional development being more than the number of recommended days spent training in the course of a year to keep RTPI accreditation. Much of Barker's recommendations reflect those of Sir John Egan's Review "Skills for Sustainable Communities" where he argued that generic transferable skills such as visioning, communication and project management where vital for sustainable community professions such as planning.

As complex planning decisions are very often taken by local councillors there is a need to increase their knowledge and awareness of the planning system. Barker signals the move towards compulsory training for those elected members involved in planning decisions, targeting new elected members in the first instance.

Status of the planning profession

Barker also recommends raising the status of town planning, and in particular the chief planners. The Review argues that the "status and professionalism of Chief Planners should be raised to put a confident and properly resourced planning department at the heart of each local authority with the right links to key related functions".

Encouraging more people into the planning profession

As an economist and current member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, it's perhaps unsurprising that in addition to skills, Kate Barker also focused on the supply of town planners. Qualified town planners are getting increasingly difficult to recruit, particularly in more affluent parts of the country, and the problem is at its worst in the South East.

Barker recognised the Academy's vital role, specially mentioning the 180 point Postgraduate Diploma in Planning which can be completed in one year. But speeding up the training process is only factor as Barker argues for the improved "perception of planning as a career".

The country needs to encourage bright, ambitious young graduates to enter the planning profession. To tackle this problem, we are developing a careers brand and targeted campaign to encourage a broader range of entrants into key sustainable community professions including town planning, architecture and surveying. The campaign will start in April this year.

Conclusion

The Barker Review and the expected planning White Paper show the future direction for the planning system and profession over the coming years. Increasing the skills of town planners and elected members, raising the status of town planners and encouraging more people into the planning profession are likely to be key elements of government policy over the coming years.