‘Mind the Skills Gap’ Implications for Planning

1. ‘Mind the Skills Gap’ Implications for Planning Kevin Murray PPRTPI Board Member Academy for Sustainable Communities

2. Today’s presentation • ASC’s role • Arup Study – Skills Gap • Implications & Action

3. ASC’s role • National Centre of excellence for skills and knowledge to make better places • Across all professions and sectors • Influencing policy through CLG and other government departments to address skills gaps • Setting the standard and promoting best practice for achieving sustainable communities

4. Key Components

5. Sustainable communities occupations

6. The importance of generic skills • Stakeholder management • Leadership • Communication • Partnership working • Community engagement • Conflict resolution • Breakthrough thinking • Inclusive visioning • Project management • Financial management • Sustainable communities knowledge • Analysis and decision-making

7. What do we do Products • Raising our Game • Foundation Degree • Making Places • National Brownfield Skills Programme • Short Course Programme Profile • Creating the Future and Future Vision Awards • Careers campaign – ask: what if? • Mind the Skills Gap Research Partnerships • Joint Commitments with 11 professional institutes People • Influenced the learning of 100,000 professionals • Reached 20,000 young people

8. Mind the Skills Gap

9. Arup’s study • Quantitative and qualitative approach • Builds on previous studies • Online survey of 146 organisations and more than 750 individuals • Case study audits of sustainable community organisations/projects • Forecasting model, based on continuation of current trends • Outputs confirmed by agencies and organisations in the sector • Does not take account the Housing Green Paper (2007) or the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR07).

10. Mind the Skills Gap - overarching findings • Significant investment already made in tackling shortages • Labour shortages and skills gaps are widening • Multi-disciplinary working is vital • Further research is required • We need an increased national drive to address labour shortages and skills gaps

11. Study findings – Shortages now Labour shortages in the sustainable communities workforce in England by profession (shortage shown as % of supply) LAR DEV ENG ENV HOU/ WEL NEI PLN REG SUS SRV TRA 40% 20% 7% 6% 0% -2% -3% -4% -5% -6% -11% -20% -17% -17% -18% -40% -60% -80% -100% • Source: Arup’s Forecasting Model • KEY: LAR – Landscape Architects, Urban Designers and Architects, DEV – Developers, ENG – Engineers, ENV – Environment Specialists, HOU/WEL – Housing and Welfare Officers, NEI – Neighbourhood Officers, PLN – Planners, REG – Regeneration Professionals, SUS – Sustainability Specialists, SRV – Surveyors, TRA – Transport Planners.

12. Study forecasts - Shortages in 2012 Labour shortages in the sustainable communities workforce in England by profession in 2012 based on current trends (shortage shown as % of supply) LAR DEV ENG ENV HOU/ WEL NEI PLN REG SUS SRV TRA 40% 25% 23% 20% 8% 0% -6% -11% -20% -17% -17% -40% -46% -60% -80% -73% -74% -91% -100% • Source: Arup’s Forecasting Model • KEY: LAR – Landscape Architects, Urban Designers and Architects, DEV – Developers, ENG – Engineers, ENV – Environment Specialists, HOU/WEL – Housing and Welfare Officers, NEI – Neighbourhood Officers, PLN – Planners, REG – Regeneration Professionals, SUS – Sustainability Specialists, SRV – Surveyors, TRA – Transport Planners.

13. Study findings - Regional skills gaps

14. Planning • Labour shortages - projected to rise to 46% • Technical skills • Planners identified by approximately 10% of organisations as requiring improvement in their technical skills with gaps in development control. • Generic skills • Financial management skills most frequently identified by individuals.

15. Transport Planning • Labour shortages • Increasing shortage of transport planners forecast, labour shortages expected to increase to over 10% by 2012. • Technical skills • Individuals and organisations relatively confident • Generic skills • Individuals relatively confident • Financial, project and change management are most likely to be identified as areas requiring improvement.

16. Skills gaps impact on delivery • Shortage of high level practitioners • Increasing competition for chief executives and directors between delivery bodies and between public/private sector • Recruitment and retention of skilled staff and teams

17. Recommendations • More needs to be done to address skills gaps • ASC will Lead a national drive and monitor progress • Recognise generic skills are key • Accelerate delivery of programmes on cross professional basis • Work to address labour shortages, recruitment and retention • Continue to support partners to increase career entrants • Identify, recognise and promote technical skills • Working with professional institutes

18. ASC’s action plan • Lead, co-ordinate and monitor progress • Accelerate delivery programmes on cross-professional basis • Support partners to increase career entrants • Commission short courses • Secure the skills inheritance • Disseminate and target findings

19. Action: Youth & education • Promote ASC careers • Teacher resources (11-14 year olds) -Making Places & Ask about place • City & Guild NVQ units • Generic Module & Foundation Degree • Training, short courses in SC – leadership & management, eco towns • E-learning

20. Action: Practitioners • Standard setting and kitemarking • Values framework • Diagnostic tool • CPD – skills passports, career pathways • Targeting - growth areas, eco towns - brownfield skills • Joint researchPlanning with Intercultural communitiesBest practice in UK and Europe • Case study library

21. Issue to consider • Role of professions & universities • Role of overseas professionals • Impact of Olympics & regional differences • Further change to planning system • Prospect of recession (eg on consultancy…)