Local authority planning capacity and skills survey: 2023 findings
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published the findings of its first annual survey of local authority planning capacity and skills.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published the findings from its first annual survey of planning capacity and skills in local authorities in England.
Conducted by Verian, the findings provide evidence of challenges across a range of areas, including recruitment, retention and skills gaps. The survey was sent to 327 local authorities, including National Parks, of whom 118 responded, with the fieldwork conducted between July and September 2023.
These findings will become the baseline for an annual survey, with the results helping to target support where it is needed most, and to monitor the impact of investment in planning capacity and capability over time. Understanding where support can have most impact is critical as we know that highly skilled planners are fundamental to running a proactive, efficient planning service for the communities they serve, and ensuring that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.
The government has already announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities, including through the recruitment and training of 300 graduate and apprentice planners and the development of skills needed to implement reforms and unlock housing delivery.
Our commitment to recruit 300 additional planners, taken alongside the wider planning policy changes, will help us to deliver the housing and economic growth this country desperately needs.
We are also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that local planning authorities have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, recognising the resources and morale challenges.
The next iteration of the local planning capacity and skills survey will be launched in January 2025. This will be a targeted pulse survey aimed at refreshing our evidence base and providing updated figures on key metrics. It will also allow us to compare against the baseline established through the 2023 survey.
Alongside research conducted by an embedded user research team and other evidence provided by stakeholders, this survey is key to obtaining a clear and up to date view of the situation across the planning sector, ensuring we are achieving our objectives and delivering the right interventions in the right places.