Transcript Insert main title here

Strategic Planning & the
bigger picture
Mide Beaumont
The “new” world of strategic
planning
Duty to Cooperate – strategic planning through local plans
But also important:
• Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)
• Strategic Economic Plans & Local Growth Deals
• Enterprise Zones and European funding
• City Deals
Our vision for local growth
• Unleashing the ambition and creativity of local leaders
• Devolving resource and responsibility to places with
credible and compelling economic leadership
• Local Enterprise Partnerships at the heart of our vision
• Building on - local retention of business rates,
establishing Enterprise Zones, Regional Growth Fund,
Growing Places Fund and from 2015 Local Growth Fund
Building on LEP record in delivery – Enterprise
Zones
Enterprise Zones use incentives to
attract and grow local and
international businesses
Help Local Enterprise
Partnerships transform areas
25 year programme – already
delivering £450+ million private
investment in first 18 months and
4,000 jobs
Building on LEP record in delivery - Growing
Places Fund
159 projects (52% of all projects) worth an estimated
£1.5bn, are already underway
LEPs report expected 77,000 housing units, 5.3m sqm
commercial floorspace, 217,000 jobs and 5,300 businesses
supported
New challenges - the resources to deliver
• Minimum of £2 billion a year through Local Growth Fund
• Bringing together funding from transport, skills, housing
• LEPs given responsibility for £5 billion EU Structural and
Investment Funds for 2014-2020
• Resources under strategic direction of local areas total £20
billion up to and including 2020-21
New challenges – wider responsibilities
Multi-year Strategic Economic Plan - for whole LEP area
Using all resources and levers – local spending and assets, local
decision-making, public and private investment, not just Local Growth
Fund and EU funding
A common growth agenda for business, local government, universities
Devolving transport – putting it at the heart of the local growth story
Meeting local skills priorities - devolving £330 million of Further
Education capital funding 2015-16
Local partnerships – need to be able to deliver against wider agenda
Bringing it all together
European Structural and
Investment Funds
Skills
Local Plans
and
planning
decisions
Enterprise
Housing
EZ funding
Regeneration
Growing Places
Fund
Strategic
Economic
Plan
LEPs
Regional Growth Fund
programmes
Local Growth Fund
Further
Education
College
Investment
Local authority
assets and
spending
Growth
Deal
GROWTH
Infrastructure
Public private
partnerships
Private Sector
Investment?
Transport
links
Jobs
Importance of the Strategic Economic Plan
The Strategic Economic Plan will be used to guide
Government decisions on:
• allocations from Local Growth Fund
• local flexibility and accountability
• wider local responsibilities and flexibilities
But more importantly
• Drive forward a common growth agenda locally
New challenges – going beyond City Deals
Our commitment - to negotiate a Growth Deal with every
Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
LEPs can seek freedoms, flexibilities and influence over
resources from government, as well as a share of the Local
Growth Fund
In return for local commitment and collaboration
LEPs need to make the case that localisation will offer
better outcomes and value for money than continuing
national delivery
The importance of deeper local partnerships
for growth
Robust and deliverable over a long period
Effective collaboration on economic development activities
Maximising the synergies with wider local growth
programmes
Putting in place the infrastructure and housing that supports
growth
Opening up opportunities for business to invest
Duty to Cooperate
More than two years on from the Localism Act (November 2011)
Examinations now starting to show how PINS are approaching the Duty
National Planning Guidance – clarification about what is expected under
the Duty
DCLG support for authorities
Key ministerial messages
National Planning Practice Guidance
From five times longer than Tolstoy’s War and Peace to
something that fits in your pocket…
*actual planning guidance
Finalising the Guidance
• Finalised guidance to ‘go live’ shortly following
consideration of feedback
• Annual reviews of content to ensure it remains current
and relevant – this does not mean that all content will
change every year
• Capacity for continuous feedback from users
• Visit the site here:
http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk
Guidance on the Duty to Cooperate
New Guidance - Duty to Cooperate is about a change in the culture of
working
So Guidance is quite different to many of the other topic areas where
issues are more black and white
Focus of Guidance is to ensure that there is as much clarity as possible
about what is expected from those working together under the Duty, and
how Inspectors will approach examinations
Should be read in conjunction with other Guidance, such as in particular
assessing housing and economic development needs
Guidance on the Duty to Cooperate
Guidance covers 22 questions, vast majority deal with:
What – is the Duty; actions required; outcomes expected; should councils do if
others won’t cooperate/partners are at a different stage in the process …
Who – is subject to the Duty
When – should cooperation take place; is an issue a strategic matter
Why – do people have to work with others
How - to decide who to cooperate with; can councils work together; will be
Duty be considered at the examination; does the Duty relate to the policy test of
soundness
Key messages:
what, when and who
The duty goes beyond a requirement to consult. Cooperation…should
produce effective policies on strategic cross boundary matters
Inspectors testing compliance [with the duty at examination] will assess the
outcomes of cooperation and not just whether local planning authorities have
approached others
Cooperation should take place throughout Local Plan preparation …it
should continue until plans are submitted for examination and beyond into
delivery and review
Authorities may well work in different groupings for different strategic
matters. The strategic matters being planned for and the most appropriate
geography to gather evidence and develop planning policies will help decide
who to cooperate with
Key messages:
scope and evidence
The Duty is not a duty to agree. But it is a demanding requirement. Detailed
evidence will be needed to show how authorities have cooperated/the efforts
made to seek cooperation
Cooperation with key delivery partners is central to the policy test of
soundness… Authorities need to ensure that their Local Plan is effective before
submitting it for examination...
There is no one way to demonstrate cooperation – what is important it that it
produces effective policies on strategic matters
Agreements between authorities, signed by elected members, will be
important to demonstrate commitment between authorities to produce
effective strategic planning policies where plans are on different timescales
A failure to demonstrate compliance with the duty at the Local Plan
examination cannot be corrected retrospectively
Key messages:
lack of cooperation from others
Authorities must do all they can to secure, and evidence, cooperation on
strategic matters
But if the Plan falls short because of a lack of cooperation, they should submit it
for examination together with a detailed statement and evidence of the actions
they have taken to engage cooperatively
Authorities will also need to submit undertakings in writing about the actions that
they will take to seek to secure an effective planning strategy in the future
In these circumstances Inspectors will consider the implications for the planning
strategy, for example implications of unmet housing need. They will
also consider the willingness of the authority being examined and other key
partners to commit, through written agreements, to work together to achieve
effective solutions
Key messages:
adopted local plans & monitoring
Having an adopted Local Plan does not justify a lack of cooperation with authorities
bringing forward a Plan
If an authority preparing a Local Plan provides robust evidence of unmet housing need,
other authorities in the housing market area will be required to consider the implications,
including the need to review their housing policies
Authorities unwilling to cooperate with others will eventually have to bring forward their
own Local Plan for examination. If they are unable to justify, with robust evidence, why the
Plan does not help to meet the unmet requirements of another authority they may fail the
test of compliance with the Duty and the Plan may be found unsound
Authorities must give details of what action they have taken to comply with the
Duty in their Monitoring Reports at least once a year. This should include details of the
actions they have taken to respond constructively to requests for cooperation
Comments on the Guidance
Suggestions for amendments include:
• Say more about the role of agreements between authorities
• Say more about the evidence submitted to examinations on
cooperation
• More clarification on where needs cannot be met, including treatment
at examination
• More detail about what effective cooperation means
• Say more about the role and responsibilities of other bodies
• Say more on the implications for authorities with adopted plans
• Emphasise the role of councillors in leading discussions and
negotiation.
Strategic Planning & the
bigger picture
[email protected]