Tories target planning to help cut costs
Public sector workers were invited to help cut bureaucracy and targets by the Conservatives last week.
If this was done effectively, planners would have reason to celebrate.
On 17 April, the Conservatives published their public sector manifesto, An Invitation to Public Sector Workers, which promises the UK’s “demoralised, disrespected and unrecognised” public sector workforce that they will cut targets and bureaucracy if they win power. Planning experts warn there is a delicate balance to strike between cutting back Labour’s targets and giving planners too much autonomy.
The Conservatives want to give councils more freedom in their locality. David Hackforth, president of the Planning Officers Society and head of planning at Milton Keynes Council, says that, under the proposals, planning officers would get more freedom, which would be a welcome move away from Labour’s obsession with speed.
“The difference with Labour since 1997 is that the speed of planning applications has been too significant. Eight-week and 30-week targets have over-emphasised the speed and under-emphasised the quality of applications. The speed of planning applications is not the be all and end all,” he says.
He says Labour’s urgent approach to planning targets has resulted in “a tendency to refuse applications or to not negotiate with developers”.
By cutting these targets, the Conservatives could increase time planners can spend on the planning process, resulting in more fine-tuning of applications. Planners agree that less paperwork would also be a good thing.
However, he fears the Conservatives would go too far in the opposite direction from Labour.
“Scrapping some targets would be good, but we don’t want to go back to a situation where local authorities have no regard for the speed of applications,” says Hackforth.
Others worry about the Conservative pledge to abandon regional planning targets.
Ian Tant, senior partner at planning consultant Barton Willmore, says cutting targets would improve life for planners. But he warns of a loss of strategic direction.
“The fact that the Conservatives want to scrap regional housing targets is a real loss because they give local authorities an idea of what level of housing needs to be achieved. It is an area of targets that has a real benefit.”
The Tories want to give planners more flexibility in other ways. Their manifesto promises to phase in flexible working across the public sector, starting with posts in central government.
Following its main manifesto, this is the party’s second “invitation”. It will only find out next Friday how many of its RSVPs are positive.
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