Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Issue 13
Retirement Reflections by Leonora Rozee OBE
As I move into retirement after 24 years in the Planning Inspectorate it is time to reflect on how the Inspectorate has evolved and adapted to the changing environment in which we live whilst maintaining its values of openness, fairness and impartiality and its reputation for delivering a high quality public service.
My history with the Inspectorate started in 1953 when my father Donald Pryde became an Inspector. He was an Architect who retired in 1978 after 25 years. My father inspired me to become an Inspector, although as a Planner I came from a different professional background (local government planning policy and development control).
The appellate function which is now carried out by the Planning Inspectorate was established by the Housing and Town Planning Act 1909 which granted a right of appeal against a housing/planning decision. The power was at the time exercised by the Local Government Board which formed a Housing and Town Planning Department under the comptrollership of JAE Dickeson who was given three housing inspectors and a town planning assistant. The first set of appeal rules were published in 1910.
The Planning Inspectorate has grown into an organisation of around 497 mainly administrative staff and managers based in Bristol and Cardiff and 353 home based salaried Inspectors and with an annual budget of some £46 million. The role of the organisation has evolved and adapted over time to reflect changing legal and policy frameworks and changing expectations of what responsibilities the Planning Inspectorate should have. Its role has extended to dealing with over 200 pieces of legislation for several Government Departments. It has had to accommodate the changes brought about by devolution which has led to significant differences between both the statutory and policy frameworks operating in England and Wales.
It has operated within numerous different Government Departmental structures and it has developed and maintained an exceedingly high reputation for the impartiality of the service it provides. Indeed, the values of ‘fairness, openness and impartiality’ which underpin all that the Planning Inspectorate does were first formally expressed in the Frank’s report of 1957 1 and remain the most important watchwords for all staff in the organisation from the Chief Executive to the most junior administrator. Agency status in 1992 provided a clearer ‘arm’s length’ relationship with the parent department and has enabled the organisation to develop a more free-standing reputation.
The role of the Planning Inspectorate has always been fundamental to the effective operation of the planning system. The appeal process provides a safeguard against the inappropriate exercise of power over individual rights at the local level and ensures that the planning system operates within an accepted framework of both national and local policy. The appellate role of the Inspectorate has changed over the years with the decision-making powers of the Secretary of State being almost completely transferred to individually appointed Inspectors and new methods of determining appeals being developed, such as the introduction of hearings in the early 1980s and the recently introduced Household Appeal Service. However, none of the changes made to the appeal system has fundamentally changed the appellate role of the Planning Inspectorate as it has existed for most of the past 100 years.
The 2004 Act and the introduction of the Local Development Framework system with its independent examination process, however, has led to very significant changes in the role of the Planning Inspectorate and to the way it delivers its services. These changes relate to the role of the Inspectorate as a source of expertise and knowledge about how the planning system is operating. Prior to 2004 much of that knowledge and expertise was kept within the Inspectorate and its parent department rather than being shared with the wider planning world.
The need to explain and support the development plan examination process led to a different approach based on, firstly, developing and publishing guidance to make clear how the examination process would work and, secondly, actively engaging with the key players – Government Offices, local planning authorities and other involved in plan-making – to share knowledge and help in the implementation of what is a very different plan-making system. In the process the Inspectors carrying out the examinations have had to learn to operate more collectively to ensure that a consistent approach would be adopted to new issues. The publication of the first ‘lessons learned’ document and the subsequent early engagement project has put the Inspectorate at the heart of the delivery of the local spatial planning process.
The more proactive, engaged role which the Planning Inspectorate has developed in response to the changes brought about by the 2004 Act and subsequent reviews of the planning system and the further development of that role is welcomed by the Inspectorate’s stakeholders and is making effective use of the knowledge and expertise built up by the organisation through its appellate and examination roles. Further opportunities exist to develop this role in partnership with our parent department and other public bodies such as the Planning Advisory Service and Government Offices as well as the Inspectorate’s wide group of stakeholders.
I welcome the more proactive role of the Planning Inspectorate of which I am proud to have been able to play a part. I wish my successor and colleagues well in the continuing development of that role to support the ongoing evolution of the planning system.
1, Report of the Committee on Administrative Tribunals and Enquiries chaired by Sir Oliver Franks and published in 1957
