- If there was one thing you would like to see change in how our skills landscape is structured and delivering, what would it be?
Please give us your views:
RTPI Scotland wishes to see a skills landscape that helps deliver the pipeline of town planners needed to support this sector into the future. The key focus in doing this should be through the expedited establishment of a Chartered Town Planner apprenticeship scheme. This will support Scotland’s planning system to deliver, amongst many key outcomes, the country’s strategic green recovery and net-zero transition goals.
- Thinking about the vision in the Terms of Reference for a system that is simple, people-focused and built on collaboration, how well are we doing against that vision just now?
- Please give us your views:
As discussed in response to Q1, RTPI Scotland wants to see a system whereby apprenticeship schemes can be brought forward in manner which priorities the skills and needs for the green transition and to achieve our net-zero carbon targets, especially town planning.
- Please provide specific examples of success in the work of public agencies or the private/third sector:
Currently RTPI Scotland are working closely with Scottish Government, Heads of Planning Scotland, the Improvement Service, High-Level Group for Planning Performance, private sector planning consultancies and Key Agencies to bring forward a town planning apprenticeship. The result of such collaboration has so far culminated in the publication of the Future Planners Report[1]. This research explores the options available to support the growth of entrants into the planning profession in Scotland setting out number of key actions for stakeholders to progress.
- Please provide specific examples of elements that don’t work, are confusing or need to be improved:
RTPI Scotland wishes to see a clear, joined up approach from Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Government to expediate the establishment of a town planning apprenticeship scheme.
- Thinking about the different national agencies and partners involved in skills delivery, are there areas where more clarity is required about roles and responsibilities or where you think the balance of responsibilities should be changed?
Please give us your views:
See answer to 2(iii).
- Thinking about how our economy and society is changing and the Scottish Government’s ambitions for a skilled workforce as set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, do you have any evidence on where the current skills and education landscape needs to adapt or change and how it could be improved?
Please give us your views. Please provide evidence to support your answer:
RTPI Scotland wishes to see investment in skills development for the next generation of planners to support the challenge of delivering Scotland’s net-zero carbon ambitions. Research by Skills Development Scotland in 2020[2] estimated that over the next 10-15 years, approximately 550-600 planners will be needed to meet replacement demand due to retirements, and an additional 130 planners will be needed to cover a projected 11% growth in the Scottish planning sector up to 2030. RTPI Scotland therefore calls upon Scottish Government to provide much needed investment in diversifying and strengthening career routes into the profession alongside continual skills development to ensure we have a workforce which can meet current and future challenges.
- Can you provide any evidence of skills structures in other places that are delivering outcomes in line with Scotland’s ambitions which Scottish Government should look to in achieving its ambitions?
Please give us your views:
RTPI Scotland wishes to highlight the RTPI-accredited apprenticeship scheme has already been rolled out in England[3]. In this scheme approximately 280 apprentices are studying the Chartered Town Planner apprenticeship across 10 RTPI-accredited training providers with a second Town Planning Apprenticeship also currently in development[4].
- Do you have any evidence relating to the outcomes of the current funding and delivery of apprenticeship programmes (Modern Apprenticeships, Foundation Apprenticeships and Graduate Apprenticeships) in terms of either outcomes for learners and/or the needs of employers?
Please give us your views:
As set out above whilst progress has been made, given the complicated governance framework for establishing apprenticeship schemes, RTPI Scotland has yet to establish the much needed town planner apprenticeship scheme.
- Do you have any views or evidence on how changes to the operation of apprenticeship programmes could support the ambition for apprenticeship programmes to be an embedded part of the wider education system?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Apprenticeships are often described as being ‘demand-led’. Do you have any evidence about how process for developing and approving apprenticeship frameworks responds to skills priorities? Please include suggestions of how the development process could be enhanced.
Please give us your views. Please include suggestions of how the development process could be enhanced:
RTPI Scotland, in collaboration with key stakeholders, are in the process of finalising a draft of a business case for the establishment of a town planning apprenticeship programme. We hope to publish this work in Q1 2022.
- Do you have evidence on the benefits or risks of employer leadership in apprenticeship development or the impact it has on outcomes for apprentices and/or employers?
Please give us your views. Please include suggestions for how the governance of apprenticeship design and delivery could be strengthened:
No comment.
- Do you have any evidence on how the current arrangements for National Occupational Standards are delivering against the intended ambitions of the National Occupational Standards Strategy?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Do you have any evidence to support how changes to the delivery landscape for developing and championing National Occupational Standards could support the ambition for National Occupational Standards to be the foundation of vocational training and learning in Scotland?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Do you have any evidence to demonstrate how the existing delivery arrangements for upskilling and reskilling, including the specific funding programmes, are impacting on outcomes for learners and/or industry and sectors?
Please give us your views:
With the anticipated adoption of the National Planning Framework 4 in 2023, RTPI Scotland believes that the significant introduction of new and expanded policy areas need a comprehensive skills and training programme to support planners through the transition and implementation of the Framework. RTPI Scotland welcomes intentions to establish a skills development programme as set out in the revised draft NPF4 Delivery Programme, work which will be collaboratively taken forward with Partners in Planning. Beyond close collaborative working, for this programme to be a success, it needs to receive effective funding.
- Do you have any evidence about what measures, if any, should be in place to understand the quality of national skills programme delivery funded by public investment through independent training providers?
Please give us your views
No comment.
- Thinking about the government’s ambition to optimise the existing system for upskilling and reskilling throughout life, do you have any evidence to support how changes to the delivery landscape could help to achieve this ambition?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Thinking about the overall ambition to ensure that the skills and education system is aligned to local, regional, and national skills priorities, what aspects of the current delivery landscape are working well to support this ambition?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- The Auditor General recommended that the Scottish Government take urgent action to deliver improved governance on skills alignment. Do you have any evidence to support whether the current arrangements are likely to deliver progress?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Do you have any evidence to indicate how changes to the delivery landscape could better deliver the vision for a system which is agile and responsive to future needs and where labour market insights can inform strategic provision planning?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Do you have any evidence to demonstrate the success of Skills Investment Plans or Regional Skills Investment Plans on sector and regional skills outcomes?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Thinking about the current delivery landscape, how well is it structured to deliver the Scottish Government's ambitions for a just transition to net zero?
Please give us your views:
As set out above this response, RTPI Scotland believes that ensuring a strong pipeline of planners will be critical for Scotland to achieve its net-zero carbon target ambitions. To achieve this will require close collaborative working and long-term funding solutions.
- Do you have any evidence to inform how the new Careers by Design Collaborative could be embedded within the wider education and skills system and delivery landscape to enable the recommendations of the Careers Review to be taken forward to ensure people can access the advice, information, and guidance that they need?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Alongside Careers information, advice and guidance, do you have any evidence to demonstrate what additional support young people, including those from marginalised groups, might need to develop their skills and experience to prepare them for the world of work?
Please give us your views. Please include details about who you think should be responsible for providing this support:
RTPI’s EXPLORE work experience programme, began in January 2022, provides valuable and strong data validating this evidence from Future Learn. The programme has now involved 100 placement students across the UK from Belfast to Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Cambridge: and particularly from Asian, Black, and minority ethnic communities and lower socio-economic backgrounds. From this experience, 93% of students said they would consider a career in town planning, up from an initial 37%[5].
Thus, targeting apprenticeships to school leavers and undergraduates would be a productive means of diversifying entry points for a training pipeline, and allow to target under-represented and lower socio-economic communities to develop diversity of entrants.
- Do you have any evidence about how the current arrangements for employer engagement in skills and education are supporting delivery of Scottish Government’s ambitions and outcomes?
Please give us your views:
No comment.
- Thinking about the different aspects of the system in which employers have an interest, and the existing mechanisms for feeding into policy and delivery, do you have any evidence to support how changes in the delivery landscape could improve the partnership working between Scottish Government, its public bodies and employers?
Please give us your views:
No further comment.
[1] https://www.rtpi.org.uk/media/12040/future-planners-project-report.pdf
[2] https://www.partnersinplanning.scot/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/23623/Skills-in-Planning-Research-Final-February-2021.pdf
[3] https://www.rtpi.org.uk/become-a-planner/apprenticeships/chartered-town-planner-apprenticeship/apprentice-stories/
[4] https://www.rtpi.org.uk/become-a-planner/apprenticeships/town-planning-assistant-apprenticeship/
[5] https://www.rtpi.org.uk/new/our-strategic-priorities/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/creating-a-diverse-and-inclusive-profession/explore/
