College Public Policy

Posted by Chris Magee on 12 July 2010

…is the new mantra, but “Uncertainty, uncertainty, uncertainty…” is how it’s being received in local government, regeneration and property circles.

However, bit by bit, the Government’s intentions on localism are becoming clearer.

“I want to unlock the passions and drive of communities. I want to free them to realise their vision,” said Housing Minister, Grant Shapps to the Community Land Trusts earlier this week.

And Minister for Decentralisation told the RICS on the same day: “… one of the key elements of reform … is that decisions should be taken at the most local level possible, by people who are accountable to the public.”

One way or another, the steamroller of David Cameron’s coalition government is moving forwards in the hope of delivering the Big Society- making citizens more involved with decision making in every way.

So how will including local people more actually change working practices? Whilst there’s a huge amount of uncertainty, we do know for certain that fundamental changes will come before Parliament in the autumn.

At the base of this will be a new requirement for extensive public consultation- engaging with local stakeholders earlier and in much greater depth.
This is in fact not a new idea- the government has been producing Best Practice consultation guidance via the IDeA and then the Planning Advisory Service for around a decade.

Additionally, many local authorities have enshrined their idea of thorough consultation in their Statements of Community Involvement. Some, indeed, have gone as far as to specify what they expect from developers or others who wish to significantly impact upon the urban fabric of an area.

Up until now, these considerations have played second (or third) fiddle to legally testable regional strategies, but will now be taken seriously. Speculation abounds as to whether the results of consultation will become a material consideration in areas such as planning.

There are many less certain aspects of forthcoming legislation, such the deliverability of Grant Shapps’ aspiration of achieving the buy-in of 90% of local people to development schemes. This is something Communiqué can say, after 25 years of running public consultations, is a rather unrealistic target. There simply isn’t that level of positive consensus in any cross-section of the public and we might expect to see this requirement quietly dropped.

In this way, we would welcome a dose of pragmatism from all involved, with locals accepting the need for schemes with a mix of tenures as an antidote to ghettoisation and understanding the importance of regeneration.

Local Authorities, and particularly councillors, for their part need to take seriously their obligation to provide enough housing for their communities. Developers and investors need to understand that the growing appetite for meaningful public consultation has reached a point where it is likely to become statutory.

We may not have a crystal ball to anticipate the detail of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill, but we know that community involvement and engagement will be at the heart of the new legislation. Properly handled, this could lead to real improvements for communities and developers alike.

Consultation can be expensive, but it’s much cheaper than an appeal and can deliver schemes of which the public are broadly supportive as opposed to vehemently opposed.

We also know, however, that more definite policy is needed urgently by local authorities and those who work with them.

They need clarity, they need detail and they need it soon.

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