Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Issue 7
The Royal Town Planning Institute
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded prestigious Learning Partner status from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
There are currently fewer than twenty organisations with this status - designed to demonstrate commitment to training and development for planning employees at all stages of their careers, whether involved in professional, technical or support functions.
RTPI Learning Partner status:
- Provides a recognisable benchmark of excellence in training and professional development
- Targets recruitment and retention of high calibre employees by communicating the organisation's commitment to their professional development
- Demonstrates the organisation's high standards of professionalism to clients, stakeholders and the public
The route to Learning Partner status involved a description of our policies of training and development and documentary evidence of how these work in practice.
The RTPI’s assessment particularly recognised the “seriousness with which it takes its position as head of profession and its progressive training policies..”, as well as “clear value” we place on professional membership of our current planners. It also recognised our development of future planners by sponsoring administrative staff to undertake planning qualifications.
The assessment also highlighted our pioneering work on the Tomorrow’s Planners initiative, which has since had over 81 trainees participating nationwide, with 25% having secured posts before the end of their traineeships.
Whilst this is excellent recognition for us, we won’t rest on our laurels, and will continue to review and refine our learning and continuous professional development policies to ensure they meet our changing needs and future challenges.
David Harvey
Learning and Development Unit
