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We know how tough recruitment can be for local planning authorities – that’s why Pathways to Planning is thrilled to offer a limited number of part-funded graduate placements as part of our second programme intake.
Graduates from our programme will be ready to hit the ground running in September 2025, and each comes with a £40,000 salary bursary to cover their first year with your council. You’ll just need to commit to funding their salary in the second year. But that’s not all – every graduate also receives over £10,000 in educational bursaries to support their study on an RTPI-accredited postgraduate course.
Act fast – funding is limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis! Councils have until 18 June 2025 to secure their spot, so sign up for the opportunity to bring fresh talent and energy to your planning team
Hot off the press we notice that MHCLG and Defra have published more working papers (we used to call them consultations) on the planning system.
As yet, there is no word on the new NPPF that is expected to include some sort of national development management policies. You can expect us to do something over the next few weeks to help you understand and respond to the detail of these latest proposals.
We are setting up a network for councils to learn more about the planning performance process that the Government currently operates and to share best practice in improving performance and avoiding designation. You don't have to be a council under threat of designation to join the network as we are inviting councils who want to learn from others as well as councils who consistently maintain excellent performance.
Please sign up for our first meeting on 3 July at 10am to find out more and help set the terms of reference for the group.
We recently hosted a webinar to kick off the Local Plan Leader Network to learn more about how local plan leaders are working towards hitting a December 2026 deadline. You can read about it in this blog. Now PAS is holding a series of online roundtables on the challenges and risk mitigation for local plan production in the current plans system. This is an opportunity for local plan leaders and officers to explore plan preparation issues working towards December 2026 submission and to hear from other councils on how they are navigating this. The sessions are grouped regionally, and we encourage you to sign-up for the right region:
We recently launched our network for heads of planning policy, local plan managers, and team leaders with responsibility for local plan delivery including staff, budgets and work programmes. PAS supports the network to allow sharing of information, guidance and advice. It will be particularly useful for LPAs who are aiming to submit their local plan before December 2026 under the present system, but we will also support the future plan-making process. If you are a local plan leader and want to join the network, please email PAS@local.gov.uk
Following the recent launch of the Regional Design and Place Shaping Networks and the phenomenal amount of interest from LPAs in each region, the dates for the next round of network meetings has been agreed across June and July. If your local or combined authority hasn't joined your network, information can be found on our website about the networks and how to join
Urban Design Learning have been working with PAS and MHCLG to produce a series of short videos to share insights on examples of well-designed neighbourhoods that have been and are being built in Cambridge. This collection of freely available short videos explores how these neighbourhoods have been designed and delivered and what lessons can be learnt from their design.
Last year PAS commissioned Dentons to create a suite of sample agreement templates to facilitate securing biodiversity gains in the various ways allowed for by the Environment Act. These templates have recently been updated and we have added a new template for securing biodiversity net gain for phased developments. View the templates and a video introducing the new phased development template
National Highways is an important statutory consultee for planning. Their website now provides more details on their role in the planning system to help make this clearer and easier, with links to a Planning Guide and the national policy for the Strategic Road Network (the Department for Transport Circular 01/2022). An explainer video has been added recently and is a good starting point for understanding how they engage with planning. It's short and punchy and sets out their role, approach, expectations and contact details.
PAS has re-launched our Nature Recovery for Local Authorities project commissioned by Natural England following extensive research and our findings due to be published soon in our report 'Insights on Local Government Delivery of Nature Recovery'.
We are looking for a mix of LPA representatives, in different roles, in different types of authority and in different parts of the country. The group will advise the project and evolve delivery where needed. Meetings are quarterly at 2pm on: 25 June 2025, 11 September 2025, 3 December 2025, 25 February 2026. The group will link into the PAS Nature Network for LPAs and Natural England.
If you want to take part, please complete this expression of interest form by 6 June.
ICF would like to invite you to a 90-minute online interactive workshop for planners, as part of a Defra-commissioned evaluation of the process, impact and value for money of the LNRS programme. The results will be used to identify lessons learned, recommendations, and to inform the development of current and future schemes and strategies. The workshop will look at how LNRS should influence planning. If you would like to be a part of this workshop, please fill out this form. Alternatively, email Oli.taylor@icf.com to register.
A researcher from the University of Glasgow has contacted the LGA about the possibilities for use of satellite data by councils. They are getting feedback on whether high-resolution satellite data on energy efficiency of buildings has value, as part of an ongoing European Space Agency (ESA) Feasibility Study.
We wondered whether planners would find the thermal data useful to examine canopy cover, and/or prioritise areas which combine heat stress and vulnerable populations. But you might have better ideas - contribute them now if you want to see them explored further.
Access the short survey (It will take 5-10 minutes)
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