Transcript Strategic Planning and the Duty to Cooperate

Strategic Planning and the
Duty to Cooperate
www.pas.gov.uk
What is Planning Advisory Service
for?
The Planning Advisory Service exists to
provide support to local planning authorities
in England to provide efficient and effective
planning services, to drive improvement in
those services and to respond to and deliver
changes in the planning system
What is PAS ?
• PAS is a DCLG grant-funded programme
• Part of the Local Government Association
• 3rd iteration (speed of decisions/plan
making/planning reform)
• Governed by a ‘sector led’ board
• 8 staff – commissioners, generalists
A new approach to strategic planning
● Despite the abolition of RSs, the Government is
committed to strategic, cross boundary planning - on
issues that need to be effectively addressed at a
larger then local scale
● But it’s strategic planning in the context of localism
● Rather than setting rules and structures Government
has remove barriers to addressing strategic planning
issues – its up to you to make it work
● Local plans become the mechanism for delivering on
strategic planning – they have to have strategic
policies
Strategic planning now …
Strategic planning activites : filling
the void
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LEPs /LNPs
City Regions
Combined authorities
City deals
Enterprise zones
Regional funding
Local growth plans ……
Local Enterprise Partnerships
“Local enterprise partnerships
will provide the clear vision and
strategic leadership to drive
sustainable private sector-led
growth and job creation in their
area. We particularly encourage
partnerships working in respect
to transport, housing and
planning as part of an integrated
approach to growth and
infrastructure delivery.”
Local Growth White Paper (Oct 2010)
Heseltine Review : No Stone Unturned
• Create a (single pot) Local Growth Fund of
pooled Whitehall funding.
• Access to the fund via a LEP bidding process
• LEPs to draw up strategic growth plans.
• More formalised governance arrangements to
be made
• Speed up and streamline DM processes
Treasury response
• A 'Single Local Growth Fund' to be created.
• LEPs will be able to access the fund from April 2015.
• Devolved responsibility for growth-related spending
to LEPs on the basis of their strategic growth plans
• Local authorities across LEPs are asked to
strengthen their governance arrangements
• LEPs will be able to control "a significant proportion"
of European Union growth funding from 2014.
Treasury response : Local planning
• Planning local authorities must "co-ordinate land
use planning functions and align adopted local
plans, including the use of local development orders,
across local authorities in a LEP area".
• The plans must also show "effective pooling of
economic development spend and functions
across the LEP area" and "a co-ordinated
approach to strategic spatial planning".
City Deals
• Devolved powers
• 2 waves
• Focus on clear plan / strong governance /
bidding
• Partnership
• New structures – LAs
• Relationship with LEP?
Strategic funding
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Single Local growth fund
Regional growth fund
Growing places fund
European funding
Local Infrastructure Fund
Others
Key Partnerships: Local Nature Partnerships
“Self-sustaining strategic partnerships of a broad range of local
organisations, businesses and people with the credibility to work
with, and influence, other local strategic decision makers.”
• 48 LNPs exist throughout England
• LNPs take a strategic look at challenges and opportunities
involved in managing the local natural environment but also
how they support the economy and quality of life
• Opportunities for collaboration between LNPs, LAs, LEPs and
Health & Wellbeing Boards
• Key role in supporting local plan-making and delivery, and
Nature Improvement Areas
Are you doing your duty?
Strategic Planning and the
Duty to Cooperate
You are required
‘ to engage constructively, actively and on
an ongoing basis in relation to planning of
sustainable development.’
The duty to co operate is the means
NOT the end …..
It’s all about strategic planning
Duty to co operate or
duty to agree?
DtC Evidence?
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Statement of compliance
Memorandum of understanding
Statement of common ground
Agreed joint framework
Joint plans
Reasonable and
proportionate
evidence
Recent experience at examination
• Success
Support of / no objections from neighbouring LAs
Up to date evidence base
Statement of compliance
• Delays
Mainly related to a poor evidence base
• Withdrawals
Getting your house in order
1. Identify
‘strategic’ issues
to be addressed
2. Ensure corporate
roles and
responsibilities are
clear and
understood
3. Review existing
partnerships and
working groups
4. Establish ‘fit for
purpose’
governance and
support
arrangements
What are your strategic priorities?
Local plan should set out the strategic
priorities for the area :
• Homes and jobs
• Retail, leisure, other commercial
• Infrastructure eg transport, telecoms, waste
management, flood risk etc
• Health, community and cultural infrastructure
• Climate change, natural and historic environment
NPPF Para 156
The Duty to Co-operate - prescribed
bodies
• All Local Authorities
• Primary Care Trusts
• Environment Agency
• Office of Rail Regulation
• English Heritage
• Transport for London
• Natural England
• Integrated Transport
Authorities
• Mayor of London
• Civil Aviation Authority
• Homes & Communities
Agency
• Highways Authorities
• Marine Management
Organisation
When to start ?
Rising to the challenge
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Demonstrating leadership
Locally driven ‘strategic’ priorities
Corporate ownership
Continuity & consistency
Honesty & transparency
Keeping grounded in reality
Joint work : early examples
• The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Joint
Strategic Planning Unit (JSPU)
• Coastal West Sussex Strategic Planning
Board
• Marches LEP ‘Poised for Growth’
• Leeds City region
Key Messages
• Co-operation is not an end in itself - the
objective should be local plans that are
sustainable and deliverable and result in
better places
• The scale and type of co-operation required
should flow from the evidence – but will also
depend on relationships
• The effectiveness of the duty will depend on
the willingness of elected members to ‘pool
sovereignty’ on difficult decisions
The challenge for councils
“It is time we took planning out of the box.
Councils have been given a real opportunity to
shape our communities from the bottom up, but
we must not shirk our responsibilities for tackling
strategic issues”
Cllr David Parsons CBE,
Former Chair, LGA E&HPB
Strategic Planning and the Duty to
Cooperate
To close
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Feedback forms
Follow up impact assessment
Use our website/forums
Keep in touch
And don’t forget …
• Sign up to newsletter:
– www.pas.gov.uk/newsletter
Contact us
email [email protected]
web www.pas.gov.uk
phone 020 7664 3000