Claire Stafford MRTPI is a Planning Practice Advisor at the RTPI
This year’s National Association of Planning Enforcement (NAPE) Conference took place in Leeds and online last month. Just under 200 delegates from across the UK benefited from shared knowledge exchange, with numerous questions throughout the day making for a lively and engaged debate. Herein lies the inherent value of these specialist conferences.
Likewise, the annual Independent Consultants’ Network conference occurred in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Delegates also had the opportunity to participate in a walking tour of the historic Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, encompassing both its major industries and the growing creative sector.
NAPE: tackling resourcing pressures within enforcement
Enforcement officers perform a crucial function within the planning system, protecting the public and the environment from people who commit breaches of planning control, flout planning laws, and deliver ill-planned and ill-designed developments.
Nevertheless, as per previous years, the overarching theme of working under increasing pressures, be it financial or recruitment, was ever present. Unmanageable workloads and insufficient staff have left most councils unable to meet public demand, with most councils reporting a backlog of cases. Indeed, the most recent Local Authority Planning Capacity and Capability Survey 2025 noted that enforcement roles remain hard to fill, and the top impact of skills gaps on planning departments was on departments’ capacity to take enforcement action (65% vs. 43% in 2023). As the report states, “given the scale of planning reform and limited readiness within departments, the right support will be needed to improve capacity and capability”. This was also brought to light in the recent RTPI State of the Profession report discussed at the conference, particularly the finding that enforcement teams were more likely to report lacking capacity than planners as a whole.
To this end, this year’s speakers aimed to arm enforcement officers with practical tips to boost both productivity and morale. Within the lens of their recent report, the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman provided practical tips for overcoming case drift including benchmarking processes against good practice. Representatives from PINS explained updates to their online platform, which is designed to expediate the process.
Planning enforcement is fundamentally about supporting the delivery of quality placemaking, protecting the environment and upholding amenity for people. A session on HMOs provided examples of dealing with the recurring topic in a proactive manner. Similarly, tips and tricks for enforcing conditions were discussed with members able to troubleshoot queries.
As the planning system moves from a period of significant reform, we look forward to more stability and a period where we focus on delivery, and enforcement officers will be critical to ensure that the new system is implemented in a robust manner. A representative from MHCLG discussed the Government’s ambitious programme of delivering growth and implications of reform on enforcement, which will become ever-more critical in ensuring we end up with places that work for everyone. Finally, No5 Chambers rounded off the day by briefing delegates on lessons from recent prosecutions and provided their standing legal case law update.
ICN: a recurring theme of AI in practice
Independent consultants play a key role within the planning system. From the most recent RTPI State of the Profession report we know that the private sector remains an attractive option for planners.
AI was discussed for the first time at the ICN conference last year. The fact that AI featured again heavily in this year’s programme reveals the extent to which practitioners are eager to keep abreast of this rapidly evolving area of planning. The RTPI previously published practice advice on AI in planning which noted that planners are facing a transformative shift, wherein it’s essential for RTPI members to develop an understanding of key concepts and technologies. AI tools should supplement and support planners’ role in decision making, not replace.
This year’s thought-provoking session on the opportunities and limitations of AI in professional planning delivered by Landstack brought delegates up to speed on how LLMs and AI agents work within the planning context and their capability. Connecting AI directly to UK planning data is game changing, from assisting in planning history searches, document analysis, site assessment, application monitoring and policy interpretation.
Recent case studies were discussed, including Greater Cambridge Shared Planning, who working alongside the University of Liverpool, built a bespoke LLM that summarised comments across three SPD consultations. This task previously required nearly three working days, now it was reduced down to a matter of minutes. Similarly, Buckinghamshire Council used Landstack AI for assistance with their SHLAA through drastically reducing down desk appraisal time via AI generated initial site appraisals for over 100 sites in the district.
Despite the numerous benefits to AI in planning, as a profession, we also must be wary of potential concerns. The potential to generate hundreds of objections at a click of a mouse for one single planning application can severely over burden planning officers. This can lead to issues around legitimacy regarding fictitious policy and legislation citations and a lack of disclosure that AI has in fact been used.
Nevertheless, as discussed by the Planning Portal, AI is not about replacing human relationships and interactions nor about substituting critical analysis. Crucially, the need for the professional planner’s judgement will always remain, especially in terms of understanding the specific planning context to individual cases.
The ICN conference also featured updates from PINS who covered helpful process updates. Subsequent legal updates on caselaw, legislation and policy briefed delegates on, inter alia, BNG and Section 73 permissions. Delegates also benefited from engaging panel discussions and a session on effective marketing and business development, especially in an AI world.
The superb work of enforcement officers and independent consultants across the UK, including our own NAPE and ICN members, is fundamental to ensuring we have an effective, functioning planning system. That’s why it’s ultimately so important to join together as a profession at the annual network conferences.
Thank you to all delegates, speakers, network committee volunteers and the conference sponsors.
