Expertise, decision-making and plans - the future of statutory consultees

Eddie Millar is a Policy Adviser at the RTPI

Although it might have been overshadowed by the fanfare of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) announcements before Christmas, MHCLG have also been consulting on another important planning matter – proposed reforms to the statutory consultee system.

Our members will be aware of the importance of statutory consultees in the planning system. Consultees provide expert advice to decision-makers across a range of areas, and some hold statutory status because they represent particularly crucial matters.     

The RTPI acknowledges that there are issues with the statutory consultee system, particularly in relation to resourcing, and welcome efforts to improve it. A well-functioning and well-resourced statutory consultee system means better, more informed and timely planning decisions.

While we recognise the urgency of the Government’s growth mission, the Institute would encourage the government to focus their efforts on outcomes over process and ensure that high-quality decision making is prioritised over speed alone.

To help guide their efforts, we consider that the following six principles should underpin the Government’s changes to the statutory consultee system.

1. Outcomes focused approach

The Institute agrees that in certain situations, statutory consultation may be unnecessary, and mitigations could be sufficient. We are more concerned, however, that any reforms to the system are focused on achieving good outcomes. Statutory consultees provide much-needed expert advice to inform planners’ decisions. Attempts to improve or change the system should focus on the quality of decision-making over simply speeding up the process.

2. Involving statutory consultees in plan-making

Often, statutory consultees have issues with aspects of development proposals that could have been resolved earlier on. Requiring statutory consultees to provide input at the plan making stage would help reduce conflicts and opposition when they are consulted at the decision-making stage. Requesting their input before development proposals come forward would help de-risk development and speed up decision timeframes while still considering their expertise and guidance.

3. Targeted and specific engagement

When planning authorities do engage with statutory consultees at the development management stage, this engagement needs to be targeted. Highlighting the sections of development proposals which require input reduces the burden on the statutory consultee and allows their response to be more specific and useful to the planning authority. It may also reduce the need for follow-up engagement.

4. Empowering planners to be effective decision makers

Improving the statutory consultee system should also enable planners to be good decision makers. Using expert input, planners weigh the balance of a development proposal, assessing its impacts versus its benefits. They need to be supported with sufficient resourcing and training, and the Government needs to ensure that they get the support needed to make decisions with confidence.

5. Using a data-led approach

Any changes need to start from a robust, data-led evidence base that provides the Government with a full picture: those areas of the system that are under-resourced, and those areas that are underperforming, to help them prioritise their efforts. This would require a total audit of the planning system, which would then feed into a digital performance framework that can be used to monitor the system on an ongoing basis.

6. Resourcing the system

Finally, it is vitally important that the government continues to support planning authorities and statutory consultees by ensuring they are sufficiently resourced to do their jobs properly. If they lack the capacity to effectively manage their workloads, then the quality of decision making will suffer.

To ensure that consultee input into plan preparation is as effective as possible, the Government needs to continue supporting efforts to achieve full plan coverage across the country. In our Autumn Budget submission, we asked the Government for funding to support the creation of Spatial Development Strategies and to ramp up funding for local authority planning policy teams.

As shown by our recent State of the Profession work, planning authorities remain under intense pressure – but to best help the Government meet its growth ambitions, reforms should focus on delivering good outcomes.

When properly supported, the statutory consultee system provides planners with the specialist expertise to help them make good decisions in a timely fashion and helps to deliver sustainable development that meets peoples’ needs.

 You can find the RTPI’s response to this consultation here.