Latest News

New look for TRA website - 04/07/08

If you are a regular reader of TRA ENews or visitor to the TRA website you will probably have noticed something different this month. We've had a makeover!

The website has been re-designed and re-organised to make it more attractive and, hopefully, more informative. We hope that you will approve of the changes.

Planning agreements and obligations - training and consultancy options - 04/07/08

TRA is currently developing a new package of training and consultancy services relating to Planning Agreements and Obligations (s106 & s75), aimed at improving understanding, application and management of this tricky aspect of the planning system.

Full details will be available shortly but in the meantime, here is a sneak preview of what will be available:

  • a series of inter-authority training workshops, run in venues across the UK, to build up the skills and knowledge of planning staff
  • in-house versions of these workshops for individual authorities (or groups of neighbouring authorities) plus some extra sessions only available on an in-house basis
  • two annual Forums (north and south) to provide updates and facilitate information exchange
  • inter-authority and in-house workshops for Councillors
  • an in-house workshop for beneficiary departments
  • specialist briefings for agents and developers
  • procedure reviews and specifications relating to s106/s75 agreements
  • a highly specialist facilitation consultancy service for parties involved in discussions about significant applications where planning agreements/obligations are involved.

Look out for further details on the website and in ENews in the next month or so. If you would like to make sure you receive details as soon as they are available please let us know at promotion@tra-ltd.co.uk.

Reception skills training for Kirklees - 04/07/08

TRA recently delivered a training workshop for reception staff working in planning, building control and local land charges at Kirklees Metropolitan Council. The workshop was based on a session which has been run many times on an in-house and inter-authority basis. Although aimed aimed primarily at staff who undertake front-line public reception, it is also of benefit to those who have supervisory responsibility for reception staff, functions and areas.

Specific objectives of the workshop are:

  • to equip participants with an understanding of the structure and stages of the reception process; this is more complex than sometimes realised, even by those directly involved
  • to develop skills associated with the different stages of reception, emphasising the highly critical initial stage
  • to consider how reception facilities and organisation can be improved
  • to explore aspects of reception practice and how this can be improved

  • generally, to equip participants with a deeper and more systematic understanding of the job of reception and to develop their confidence in doing it.

If you would like further information on this course and how to commission TRA to deliver it for you please contact Suzanne Waldram (suzanne@tra-ltd.co.uk). Please see our website for details of our other in-house training for planning support staff.

The Damaging Process of Reorganising Local Government? - 03/07/08

One of TRA's Associates, Steve Leach, has just written a book (jointly with Michael Chisholm) castigating the process of local government restructuring which has culminated recently in the creation of string of new unitary authorities. It is unlikely to win him any friends in Whitehall!

If you would like to read it for yourself, the booked is titled – “Botched Business – the Damaging Process of Reorganising Local Government”, and costs about £17.00 via Amazon.

Steve Leach is Professor of Local Government at De Montford University. He has worked with TRA for many years, most recently alongside Trevor Roberts delivering a two-day inter-authority workshop for Planning Committee Chairs and Planning Portfolio Holders.

Trevor Roberts addresses Scottish Councillors - 03/07/08

Trevor Roberts recently gave a plenary presentation to the first Scottish Councillors Conference organised by the RTPI Politicians in Planning Association, held in Glasgow. 

The conference was attended by councillors from all over Scotland. Trevor addressed them on “vision – the role of local councillors”, drawing parallels between planning and malt whisky, and emphasising their need to stick up for a long term view, not always politically popular in these days of customer care and demands for quick results.

TRA provides a range of planning-related services in Scotland, including an extremely well-supported programme of inter-authority workshops for staff, and in-house training for Councillors which has been provided for around a dozen authorities.

Stewart joins NAPE Management Committee - 03/07/08

Stewart Glassar, TRA's Planning Manager, was recently selected as the representative for the South East Region on the NAPE Management Committee.

The purpose of NAPE, the National Association for Planning Enforcement,is to promote and enhance the role of planning enforcement within the planning profession. If you would like more information, including how to become a member, you can visit the NAPE section of the RTPI website.

If you based in the South East and would like to contact Stewart you can email him on stewart@tra-ltd.co.uk.

New management e-bulletin - 02/07/08

As trainers and consultants, we spend a great deal of our time working in local authorities and we see the many issues facing local government and the relationship between councils and central government. We are also acutely aware of the pressures on managers to:

  • improve performance, efficiency and customer relations
  • manage people and other resources
  • respond to political and economic pressures
  • recruit, develop and retain staff, and
  • manage constant change.

To try to help, we will be launching a new e-bulletin called Managing in Changing Times which will be directed at those involved in local government management (in any discipline). The bulletin will also be of benefit to others working in councils who are generally interested to know what's going on around them.

Within the bulletin, we will comment on topical issues and share some of the experience from our work in a straightforward and informative way. We would also very much welcome contributions and feedback from readers.

The bulletin will be circulated quarterly, beginning at the end of August 2008. If you would like to sign up to receive it, you just need to submit your email address via this online form.

Madingley news - 02/07/08

This section of ENews is a way for people who have taken part in the TRA/Cambridge University certificated courses to keep in contact with us and each other. We are keen to keep in touch so please let Shelagh at TRA know if you have any news.

Apologies that we haven't featured Madingley News for quite a while so here is a catch-up.

  • Lech Kocon from Stratford on Avon DC became a Technical Member of the RTPI in April. He was awarded the Enforcement Certificate in April 2007.
  • Christine James from North West Leicestershire DC has just finished her first year on the MSc course at Sheffield Hallam and is really enjoying it. Christine was awarded the Enforcement Certificate in 2004. She says "Madingley certainly gave me a good grounding for this course both in the written and oral presentations, so thank you for your support in getting me this far."
  • Marion Brown from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority had a baby boy, Henry, in January. He arrived 5 weeks early just as she was doing her third assignment for Madingley and we only received her work a few days late! 
  • Beverley Kuchar moved to Hillingdon Council in April to take up the role of Senior DC Manager. Beverley has recently been awarded the Management Certificate which she completed while working for Elmbridge BC. She says "Needless to say, in this role I have been thinking a lot about TRA and am once more grateful for Trevor's help through the Madingley course".
  • Richard Purcell moved to Doncaster MBC in March to take up the newly created post of Head of Development Management. Richard gained the Management Certificate in 2006.
  • Nicola Stinson, now Planning Service Manager with Kerrier DC, returned to Madingley earlier this year to talk to current students.  She outlined how she put the Certificate into action to transform the enforcement service in Kerrier. Nicola gained the Management Certificate in 2005.

Re-launch of Planning Administrator's Network - 30/06/08

The Planning Administrators' Network (PAN) is about to undergo a re-launch. Since its launch in November 2006, the Network has steadily grown and currently has 190 members from a wide range of local authorities across the UK.  The Network is free to join and provides an interactive forum for discussion on a wide range of both administrative and technical issues/questions.

Although the Network has a large number of members, many of them are not particularly "active" and this is something we would like to encourage. Obviously members are free to contribute as and when they feel it is appropriate but we are very keen to promote the benefits of regular networking about subjects that affect us all on a day to day basis.

To that end, Chris Weetman, TRA's Senior Planning Consultant, is going to take on a co-ordinating role within the Network and will be spearheading its re-launch. Chris has been with TRA for 6 months. He was previously Head of Planning at St Helens Council and before that he was DC Manager at both St Helens and Wigan MBC. He has a background in development control and also has experience in the private sector. Chris will be the main contact for everything to do with PAN from now on and he can be contacted at chris@tra-ltd.co.uk.

Chris will be emailing all current members of PAN with a short questionnaire within the next two weeks. The purpose of the questionnaire is to get an idea of members' interests and their expectations of the Network so that we can develop discussion groups to better meet member's needs.

To join the Network, just visit the PAN website and register. Registration is free, quick and easy.

Springtime Enforcement Forum once again proves popular - 05/06/08

TRA's extra springtime 'Forum on Enforcement', introduced following high demand has once again been run successfully at the usual Warrington venue. Now in it's third year, this event (and the one traditionally run during the Autumn period) regularly attracts local authority staff involved in enforcement from all over the country and consistently receives positive feedback.

Some of the comments from participants attending this time include:

  • "Excellent as usual. Content and delivery pitched at exactly the right level" David Chong, Chester-le-Street District Council
  • "Met expectations, the usual high standard" Peter Willacy, Chorley Borough Council
  • "Very good event which covered a good range of topics. I like the combination of talks which covered broad issues and then more detailed enforcement related workshops."

This year's final speaker, John Jewers, an Investigator from the Ombudsman, gave the audience some key advice on "how not to see me ever again!" This included keeping complainants informed and not including conditions in a permission if the Council has no intention of enforcing them. In quite a few cases, the Ombudsman had found it necessary to recommend that an authority review the adequacy of its enforcement function - including the allocation of resources to satisfy itself that it is fit for purpose. This point in particular sparked a lively debate on the vicious circle that enforcement officers find themselves in in some authorities.

The next Forum is due to take place on Thursday 16 October 2008, with some places having been reserved already. Details of speakers and topics will be posted on our website some time during the Summer once they have been finalised, however places can be reserved now using our general booking form. Provisional bookings can be made by telephone on 01204 385678 or via the provisional bookings page on our website.

Work with Cumbria authorities on DC good practice - 29/05/08

TRA has just delivered a detailed Development Control Good Practice Guide commissioned jointly by all the planning authorities in Cumbria – Cumbria County, Allerdale, Barrow, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden, South Lakeland, Lake District National Park, Yorkshire Dales National Park. It sets out in detail the procedures and practice which authorities should aspire to (or avoid!), and is designed to serve as a template against which authorities can assess their own services, and possibly to go on and develop Procedure Guides. 

The Guide reflects TRA’s experience of good practice in planning authorities throughout the country, but is specifically related to issues in Cumbria. It covers all procedural aspects of DC, from pre-application discussions through to appeals and enforcement. 

The TRA team on this assignment was Trevor Roberts, Stewart Glassar and Sue Glover, with assistance from Chris Weetman. Visits were made to all Cumbria authorities as part of the project. On 21 May, following completion of the good practice guide, Trevor Roberts gave a presentation on the work to about 40 staff from all the participating authorities. 

TRA can offer DC Procedure Reviews and Procedure Guides and Procedure Reviews for individual elements of the planning/DC framework and details are available on our website. We are also happy to consider one-off tailored assignments such as this latest one in Cumbria. If you would like any information or to discuss your requirements in detail please feel free to contact Penny O'Shea without obligation.

Recent trainer development session - 27/05/08

TRA's considerable reputation is due in large part to the quality of the services we provide. In particular, we have always been keen to ensure that the quality of our training is maintained to a very high standard and, of course, improved on wherever possible.

Those of you who have attended TRA training events will know that we place a lot of importance on the feedback we receive from you via our evaluation forms. These are very useful to us in improving the content and delivery of our events. However, the feedback forms are just one of a number of tools we use as part of our Quality Control & Improvement Procedures.

Another important tool is trainer development and as part of this process, 12 TRA presenters (many of them relatively new or less experienced) attended an intensive Trainer Development Workshop in Cambridge in mid April. The programme included a mix of theory, discussion and practice presentations. Each presenter gave two presentations during the two-day event and these were critically evaluated by their fellow presenters. The workshop enabled the individual presenters to review their own presentation/training skills and to plan their own continued developed and helped TRA by modelling good training practice and suggesting improvements to our approach.

Principal Director, Penny O'Shea, also attended the workshop and joined in with the exercises and presentations.

"Because I'm not a trainer or presenter I was probably twice as nervous as everyone else about delivering a presentation myself but the workshop was a really positive experience for all those involved. Several of the presenters have been in touch with me since to say how much they got out of the session and how it has helped them in really tangible ways to improve their own performance."

Derwentside admin support health-check - 24/05/08

TRA has recently undertaken a review/health-check of the administrative support function for the Planning and Building Control Services at Derwentside District Council. The assignment was handled by TRA's Chris Weetman, Senior Planning Consultant, and Stewart Glassar, Planning Manager.

The review focused on the management, procedures and staffing resources of the support unit, and how they relate to the Planning, Building Control and Land Charges Functions within the Council. The intention is that the outcome of the report and its recommendations will help to clarify the roles, responsibilities and understanding of staff, to improve their delivery of service both before and after impending local government re-organisation.

Administrative support is one of several distinct elements of the planning function which can be improved through a detailed review and implementation of the resulting recommendations. Other elements which can benefit from this approach include:

  • planning enforcement
  • Committee procedures
  • delegation schemes
  • the customer service interface and its organisation.

A full list of areas which TRA can focus on in similar reviews can be found on our website. If you are looking for ways to improve a particular element of your planning service and would like to know more about how TRA could help please feel free to contact Penny O'Shea without obligation.

Training for Building Control staff in the South East - 21/05/08

A group of neighbouring authorities, led by the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, recently commissioned TRA to deliver its new one-day workshop - An Introduction to Planning for Building Control Staff  - for them on an in-house basis.  In addition to staff from RBWM, the workshop was attended by staff from West Berkshire, Slough, Wokingham, Reading and Bracknell Forest Councils.

Feedback from those who attended was positive, with comments including:

  • Very detailed and explained well. Workshops were good.
  • The course is an excellent introduction to the planning system.
  • Real life cases were very interesting.

The workshop is presented by Senior Associate, Lee Prebble and can be attended on an inter-authority or in-house basis. The next scheduled inter-authority workshop will take place on 21 October in Manchester. Places are available and can be booked now using the PDF booking form and places can be reserved provisionally by telephone or via our online provisional bookings facility. If, instead, you would be interested in TRA delivering the workshop in-house for your authority, perhaps in conjunction with other authorities (a great way to spread the cost), please contact Suzanne Waldram for further information.  

New appointment for Jed Griffiths - 20/05/08

TRA Senior Associate Jed Griffiths is a member of the RTPI Planning Policy and Practice Committee and has recently been given the Chair of its sub-group on Sustainable Communities. Lead items on the group's agenda are Climate Change and Eco-towns.

Jed is one of a number of TRA associates and presenters currently developing a series of training events around a general sustainability theme.  Already available is the one-day workshop on Sustainability and the Planning Process delivered by Jed and Colin Blundel. The workshop is next being delivered in York on 23 October and can also be delivered on an in-house basis on request.  Details of other workshops will be announced in due course.

No elections but looking for planning training for Councillors? - 18/05/08

May to July is traditionally a very busy time for TRA's Councillor training team as authorities look to provide basic training for their newly elected members. However, TRA also provides a large number of training sessions throughout the year for authorities which have not recently had elections and/or where the Planning/DC Committee is already fairly experienced.

These sessions are usually in the form of Briefings on Specific Aspects of Planning and an indicative list of topics can be found on our website. Particularly popular topics include:

  • planning enforcement
  • design considerations and the principles of urban design
  • sustainability and its link to the planning framework
  • updates on planning policies, PPG/PPS changes etc.

If you are interested in improving your Committee's knowledge and understanding of particular elements of the planning framework and would like to know more about how we can assist,  please contact Suzanne Waldram for further details.

New workshops on Regeneration and Economic Development - 18/05/08

Later this year, TRA will be introducing two brand new workshops - Delivering Economic Development Programmes and Delivering Urban Regeneration and Development Projects. They have been developed specifically for those working in Economic Development and Regeneration departments and people working in other areas of local government with an interest/involvement in economic development and regeneration such as Planning and Technical Services departments.

The government plans to bring local authorities to the forefront of regeneration and economic development activity in their areas. Local authorities are being encouraged to take the lead and plan positively for economic development and business growth. The government's Review of Sub-National Economic Development (SNR) promotes prosperity in all parts of England, stimulating economic growth and improving housing supply. The SNR sets out a number of structural reforms including strengthening the local authority role in economic development and a new statutory economic assessment study.

Delivering Economic Development Programmes will look at the role of local authorities in developing economic developement strategies and programmes for their area. It will cover recent reforms including the introduction of powers for local authorities to raise and retain local supplements to the national business rate in order to fund economic development projects. It will also cover the new Community Infrastructure Levy and the proposed reform of local authority business incentives (LABI) which provides an opportunity to strengthen the incentive for local authorities to take a stake in the economic well being of their area.

Delivering Urban Regeneration and Development Projects explains the principles behind management of urban regeneration projects and provides an understanding of the regeneration processes and the implementation of good project management principles from inception to completion. It starts by looking at economic opportunities and then focuses on how to desgin successful regeneration programmes, including stakeholder consultation, programme delivery, and overcoming various barriers. The workshop is aimed at the various disciplines involved in delivering urban regeneration as well as members and community leaders (eg those involved in LSPs or Parish Councils) who are also encouraged to atend to help them explore the ways in which they can effectively assist in delivering successful urban regeneration.

Dates and venues for both workshops will be announced shortly. Both workshops will be priced at less than £200 per person. If you would like to be notified when more details are available, please email to promotion@tra-ltd.co.uk.

TRA training for staff in the Western Isles - 15/05/08

TRA recently developed a bespoke workshop on planning enforcement for staff working in the Western Isles (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar). Senior Associate, Vivien Green, travelled up to Stornaway at the end of March to deliver the workshop for a small group of staff.

The workshop was funded by the Improvement Service and was designed to assist enforcement and development management officers who needed to know more about enforcement or to refresh their knowledge. Crucially, the aim was to develop their confidence in dealing with the enforcement system. It began with the basic principles of what is development and permitted development before going on to look at what constitutes a breach of planning control and the tools available to staff to deal with unauthorised development.   

The workshop was very well received and participant comments included:

  • Excellent information - very valuable training.
  • An excellent refresher course in planning enforcement and case law.
  • Very well presented.

If you think that training on enforcement would be of benefit to your authority or organisation and would like to know more about what we can offer please contact Suzanne Waldram. We are happy to put together bespoke courses to suit your needs.