It was about a year ago that Catriona Riddell first wrote in Planning magazine about low morale in local planning authorities, which Catriona, Peter Geraghty, Paul Brocklehurst and Sam Stafford followed up with the 'Life on the Front Line' episode (no. 60).
'Life on the Front Line' was informed by a 'Call for Evidence', the submissions to which, mostly anonymised, are reproduced on Sam's 50 Shades blog (link below).
Catriona has again used her Planning magazine column to raise the issue of morale in LPAs, making the point that, one year on, it does not feel like things have improved much.
Many of the factors impacting on morale have been well documented, Catriona writes, but whilst there seems to be some general agreement around the causes, little has been offered in the way of solutions.
As Catriona writes, too many authorities are actively discouraging a return to the office, which is not healthy; not conducive to team working; and is unlikely to support the accessibility that planning departments need to offer as a public service. Further, this continuing prioritisation of virtual working affords limited access to both formal training and mentoring, and informal development opportunities for younger, less experienced planners
Sam would like to revisit Life on the Front Line for another 50 Shades episode that explores in more detail whether and how things have changed over the last year or so. This then is another Call for Evidence, which is open to planners across all sectors and not just those in local government. If anybody would like to send Sam their thoughts on the issues raised by Catriona, or indeed any other issues that are impacting on your ability to do your job, do please drop him a line to [email protected] and he will add them to the Life on the Front Line Blog, anonymously if preferred.
The invitation last year was mostly taken up by junior officers and so Sam would be especially keen to hear this time from more senior officers and service leaders. What is it like managing people and budgets in the current climate? What are the obstacles to getting people back in the office and how can they be overcome? How has the 'top-down targets' farrago affected relationships with members?
All planners are invited to share this invitation across their professional networks.
Some accompanying reading.
The Life on the Front Line Blog
http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/12/life-on-front-line.html
Council planning chiefs must show purpose to keep isolated junior staff on board, by Catriona Riddell
50 Shades of Planning
Sam Stafford started posting on the 50 Shades of Planning blog in 2012 and in 2019 turned it into a podcast. 50 Shades of Planning is about the foibles of the English planning system and it's aim is to cover the breadth of the sector both in terms of topics of conversation and in terms of guests with different experiences and perspectives.
50 Shades episodes include 'Hitting The High Notes', which is a series of conversations with leading planning and property figures. The conversations take in the six milestone planning permissions or projects within a contributor’s career and for every project guests are invited to choose a piece of music that they were listening to at that time. Think Desert Island Discs, but for planners. If you would like to feature on 'Hitting The High Notes', or know somebody that would make a great guest, please email [email protected].
If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that...
'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'.
Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford), and his blogs can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com.
As with the 50 Shades Blog, the 50 Shades Podcast is a platform for Sam's personal opinions, which may or may not represent the opinions of his past, present or future employers.
50 Shades of Planning is produced in partnership with Cratus Group.
Why Fifty Shades? Well, planning is not a black and white endeavour. There are at least fifty shades in between...
