Olivia Gibson is a Policy and Data Analyst at the RTPI
June has been a busy month for government policy announcements, with the Chancellor’s spending review, the release of the 10-year Infrastructure Strategy, and the industrial strategy. But what do these all mean for planning?
Good news for housing
On housing, we were pleased to see a significant increase in funding for the successor to the affordable homes programme in the Spending Review, set at £39bn over 10 years. More funding for affordable homes has been a long-term ask of the RTPI, and we hope this increase will help facilitate the direct delivery of affordable homes by councils and registered providers. The modest boost in core funding for local authorities is welcomed; however, with the local government sector under serious financial pressures, it can’t be guaranteed to protect resources for planning services.
At a strategic level, the spending review laid out increased devolution of spending, with the expansion of integrated settlements to five more Mayoral Strategic Authorities. These authorities will be responsible for developing both Local Growth Plans and Spatial Development Strategies, and so will play a key role in planning and delivering the housing and infrastructure we need for the future.
Wins for infrastructure strategy
We warmly welcomed the publication of the 10-year infrastructure strategy, which placed planning and spatial thinking at the core of its proposals. This included measures to better integrate sectoral plans spatially, with national spatial priorities promised in a later update.
Similarly positive are changes to ways of working, including the formation of the National Infrastructure and Services Transformation Authority (NISTA) to oversee and assess strategy progress, as well as the introduction of place-based business cases. Together with an increased role for digital innovation in infrastructure planning through the national infrastructure spatial tool, this will support the long-term and integrated nature of the strategy.
All of these are measures we have advocated for as part of our proposals for a National Spatial Framework. We hope that the spatial tool, along with MHCLG’s digital planning programme, can enhance and expedite plan-making at all levels going forward.
The long-awaited industrial strategy
Finally, the long-awaited industrial strategy was published this week, which included Sectoral Plans for the eight growth-driving industries identified by Government. These sectoral plans will inform Strategic Authorities’ Local Growth Plans, but we note that there is little reference to how they intersect with local plans and SDSs in the strategy.
Additionally, measures like the Strategic Sites Accelerator Programme and Industrial Strategy Zones are designed to address barriers to the eight sectors’ growth, such as planning approvals and grid connections.
Some concerns remain
While the above policies are heading in a positive direction, we have relatively little detail thus far on how additional planning responsibilities will be resourced. The industrial strategy, for example, outlines plans for sectoral workforce strategies to ensure adequate staffing, but not including planning among these risks wider ambitions being undermined by persistent staffing shortages.
Strategic plan production could require hundreds of new planners, which, on top of Government plans to expedite local plan preparation and the establishment of new development corporations, is highly ambitious without extra planning resource. This is especially notable given the Government’s recent changes to the level 7 apprenticeships, which could mean around 200 fewer planners entering the profession each year. This would negate the promises to fund 300 additional planners and risk the Government missing out on their targets for housing and infrastructure development. The RTPI are willing to work actively with government on a resourcing plan to ensure that their housing, infrastructure and growth ambitions are suitably resourced.
We will continue to closely monitor developments in the infrastructure and industrial policy areas as they relate to planning, and our England Policy Committee are supporting us in developing policy asks for planning and economic development throughout the year.
