Local Government Act & Spatial Planning

Interview with Janice Morphet

Janice Morphet has extensive experience and training in Planning, and has worked in a variety of roles from front line to senior management. She is currently a member of the RTPI General Assembly and serves on the ODA Planning Decision Committee. Acting as an independent consultant Janice has a wealth of knowledge in spatial planning & local government.

1) Introducing myself

I started life with a sociology degree and moved quickly into planning, working in an outer London Borough and taking a part time planning course. I have subsequently worked in a range of authorities in a variety of roles. In Tower Hamlets this included economic development and project management and in Woking taking an early lead on sustainability as Director of Technical Services. I was Chef Executive in Rutland when it became a unitary authority and have been fortunate to have experience of a very rural area as well as Tower Hamlets. In between local authority jobs, I have been an academic for four years, leading a Department offering planning, housing, landscape and environmental education and a senior adviser in central government supporting local authorities through the changes that followed the implementation of the 2000 Local Government Act and the introduction of e government.

I have always combined my working life with writing and speaking on planning, local government and sustainability. My PhD examined the role of local authority chief executives and my latest book, Modern Local Government, (Sage, 2008) reflects on the changes that have occurred in local government 1997-2007.

I am now a consultant, mainly in the public sector; I serve on the ODA’s 2012 Planning Decisions Committee and the Research Assessment Exercise panel for planning as well as being a member of the RTPI’s General Assembly.

2) What are the most important things that LAs should be considering in the light of the new local government bill?

As with all new legislation which affects local government, there is always a lag in understanding the implications. Most local authorities still need to get to grips with the implications of the 2007 Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act, and the new Constitutional Guidance on the Act has been helpful ‘Creating Strong Safe and Prosperous Communities’, CLG November 2007 in outlining the Act’s implications. I think that the new duty to involve from the 2007 Act will be most challenging not least as it includes a more rigorous approach to the collection and use of evidence. Also the integration between the SCS and LDF will also need changes in local practice and culture.

For the 2008 Bill, it will be the new economic duty that will be of interest. Local authorities will be looking to see what additional requirements it places on them. We know that the new Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships and the IDeA will be there to help but this role may come as a major change in emphasis in many local authorities.

3) What do see as the purpose of the Community Strategy?

The first thing to notice about the Community Strategy is that it is now called the Sustainable Community Strategy following the last Local Government White Paper and 2007 Act. This change in name also reflects a development in its role. When Community Strategies were first introduced in 2000, local authorities were required to produce them but there was not a lot of discussion on their role and content. Now a few years on, the new statutory guidance following the 2007 Act and the LAA Operational Guidance (2007) move the SCS into a central role inside the local community. It has become the place where the local vision for the next 30 years needs to be set out. This is a statement of ambition based on the bounded reality of evidence, which comprises of statistical data, local preferences and some indication of what works as reflected through performance management regimes.

As local authorities are increasingly likely to be sitting within sub-regional Multi Area Agreement which then build into new Regional Integrated Regional Strategies, the SCS takes on a wider role as the local area’s ‘pitch’ into the sub-region and region. This might be for resources, the location of development or a leading role within these new spatial scales. In addition, the SCS is also the programme – the place that identifies what is going to be delivered in the locality, by which organisation and by when. The more detailed delivery within this longer time period will be achieved through the LAA (3-5 years) and the LDF (15 years).

4) Do you think that LAs have yet recognised the need to align the LAA/LDF to ensure that they complement each other?

From what I have seen there is very little interplay between the LAA and the LDF. In their first iterations, LAAs have primarily but not exclusively been focussed on revenue funded activities in supporting older people, children and communities. There was an initial intention to widen the ‘place’ component in the LAA but this has been overtaken by the Sub National Review proposals for MAAs and also the freedom to spend within the LAA from a pooled budget. In some ways, the alignment between the LAA and LDF come from their common roles as local delivery tools of the Local Strategic Partnership and their vision and programme for the area contained in the SCS. This lack of relationship between the LAA and LDF has been compounded in two tier areas, where the LDF is a district function and the LAA lies with the county on behalf of all the authorities. Nevertheless this does call for greater integration and awareness from staff working on both LAAs and LDFs as there is an increasing need to utilise these tools to a common end.

5) How do you see the role of the LSP in developing effective LDFs?

In the new local government architecture, the LSP has a significant role in leading the SCS and as the SCS includes the work on the LDF Core Strategy there is a new and inevitable relationship developing here. In Streamlining LDFS (CLG 2007), it is suggested that the SCS and Core Strategy preparation are undertaken as the same process – drawing on the same evidence base, using a single consultation or involvement process and using the LDF as the delivery mechanism for the SCS. This integration could be initially challenging, as the processes for the SCS do not include the same tests of soundness required by the LDF. However, the new duty to involve and the need to apply a common SA across the SCS and LDF bring the processes together more, whilst the Tests of Soundness require evidence of more integrated working for the LDF be successful.

There is also another practical way in which the LSP is likely to be involved in LDF and this is through the approach to delivery. In Effective Practice in Spatial Planning, (a study which I led for RTPI, CLG, Rowntree and the GLA), it was recommended that each LSP establish an infrastructure sub committee which would allow there to be a common capital investment programme across the area and a means by which the local public service providers could start to combine their investment to the community’s benefit. The LDF can include the programme as part of its delivery strategy and the report suggested the range of funds that can be fed into supporting this including s106, existing capital programmes and assets. This infrastructure programme can be evidence based ‘shopping list’ which can also be used with external agencies and to support further investment through growth areas and other similar initiatives. It will also give confidence to private investors.

6) If I could give one piece of advice to a member of a council executive, would it be?

Since the 2000 Local Government Act there has been some confusion about the role of the Executive member as a promoter of change in their areas. Executive members need to be more proactive in supporting their areas and schemes for change which support local well being. If there is a clear separation between the Executive and regularity roles of councillors (as set out in the 2000 Act) then Executive members can be more confident in taking a more proactive role.

Janice Morphet can be contacted by email at janice.morphet@tesco.net