Some of you may know our MD Rob Whiteman does a weekly mail to all council chief execs. In last weeks "Rob's roundup" there were a couple of messages on planning I thought I'd share with you: "PAS productivity benchmarking update By the time you read this the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) will have gone live with their biggest benchmark ever. Over 240 councils and many thousands of people are taking part in a rigorous assessment of their costs throughout most of July. The short-term focus is to help everyone prepare for the decentralisation of planning fees, but just as important in my book is the fact it creates a platform for understanding and improving productivity. I think it's also a good example of how localism works in practice. The power to set local fees shouldn't mean that local government wants to create 350 different methods to justify their decisions. While planning fees are certainly a focus of intense activity, helping councils create a local plan continues to be where we are putting the majority of our resources. Colleagues tell me there are the beginnings of 'exhortation fatigue' among councils and that we cannot underestimate the challenge of making strategic decisions and plans in the present environment. Nonetheless, the risks and costs of not having a local plan that is fit for purpose are becoming clear and I urge you to review your situation. We think there are just over 150 councils who could do with our help, and PAS are making contact with your planners and as a corporate endeavour I would urge your senior management team to engage in your local plan. This week I spoke at an Inside Government conference on this issue. My presentation is attached here [1] and I have also attached a very good presentation from Shona Dunne, DCLG's director on this area [2]." I'm always encouraging planners to read outside the trade box, and Rob's update is a good way of checking out what is happening more broadly in local government. This particular round-up may give you some ideas of how to engage your senior management team with the decisions in front of us. [1] http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/aio/28515301 [2] http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/aio/28515322
