On 10 th August 2021, I stood in my school’s assembly hall, mask on, holding a small piece of paper which contained my A-Level results. Despite being pleased with the grades I had achieved, I wandered out slightly lost, unsure of the route I would pursue after 14 years of education. The outbreak of COVID-19 that year had paralysed the nation, meaning my sense of uncertainty was only accentuated and I couldn’t help but feel disorientated.
Fast forward to Spring 2021, I was living in Egypt, having decided to use the pandemic period, which almost felt like a standstill in time, to my advantage, by learning Arabic. By this time, I had accepted an offer to study Politics at Kings College University. However, as time went on, despite my interest in the subject, I found myself dreading the prospect of returning to full-time education. I felt as if I was being forced into the ‘traditional’ route, with no clear picture of the field I wanted to enter after that.
Eventually, after a difficult phone call with my parents, I opened my laptop and searched for ‘degree apprenticeships’. I was intrigued by the proposition that I could obtain a degree whilst working and gaining experience in the meantime. Having always had an interest in social and political science, the town planning apprenticeships that I came across piqued my interest. Around four months after my search began, I was back in the UK, tie around my neck, ecstatic that I had landed a job at Nexus Planning.
However, as a 19-year-old young adult, knowing no real responsibility, I experienced a culture shock in my first year at Nexus. Due to the nature of what I had signed up to, I had to fully immerse myself in a professional environment, unaware of the unwritten practices and behaviours which underpinned it.
The benefit of undertaking the degree-apprenticeship was that, despite needing to adapt quickly to this new culture and environment, I was always surrounded by helpful mentors and colleagues that I could learn from directly and indirectly. This process of constant learning meant that, as of the time of writing, three years on, I am well-acquainted with the planning system, having nurtured my understanding through involvement in different types of projects. I also feel comfortable operating under the professional expectations associated with consultancy work.
During my three years learning on the job at Nexus, I have typically spent a day each week attending lectures at London Southbank University. I have found that the knowledge I have acquired at university has supplemented my experience in dealing with the planning system, making me aware of concepts and ideas that are key to fully understanding the built environment.
My dissertation, which I submitted in Spring 2024, allowed me to demonstrate my grasp of the planning system and gave me a platform to demonstrate a level of critical thinking. The dissertation, titled ‘Political Threads in the Urban Tapestry: Extent of Influence on the Built Environment’ , combined my interests in politics and planning, and received First-Class Honours.
Researching political influence in planning decisions
My dissertation sought to investigate the legislature and procedures upon which the English planning system is built, evaluating whether the status quo contains sufficient checks and balances to prevent political influences shaping the built environment. Research involved collecting almost 600 planning committee decisions issued by four London Boroughs, two predominantly made up of Labour Councillors and two predominantly made up of Conservative Councillors, between May 2022 and May 2024.
This data was then analysed and evaluated to identify any trends that could be identified as the expression of political influence on decision making.
Key findings from the dissertation
The findings of my research can be summarised by the following points:
- Committees made up of majority Labour councillors were 2.7% more likely to grant planning permission for development.
- Conservative-led committees voted against officer recommendations more frequently, with 10.7% of all committee-decided applications going against officer recommendations. Of these cases, 77.7% were to refuse against a recommendation for approval. This was only the case in 3.8% of decisions issued by Labour-dominated committees.
- In 63.6% of resultant appeals against refusal, inspectors ruled against the decision issued by Conservative-led planning committees. Despite this high success rate for applicants, 64% of applicants who were refused planning permission did not appeal.
Analysis of the research findings suggested that, in general, planning committees do not feel pressured by the prospect of their decisions being overturned at appeal. Also, the planning appeal process is unattractive to many applicants, as demonstrated by the low rate of appeals against ‘overturned’ decisions.
As a result, it could not be argued that the current system eliminates political influence on the outcome of development proposals. To mitigate this, the report suggests that committee decisions should be conducted by qualified professionals with experience in construction, designing and/or planning.
Additionally, a dissection of national local planning policy found that, although a thorough system of checks and balances regulate policy makers at local levels, national policy makers are not subjected to the same scrutiny. This means that the most important planning legislature and policy is also the most at risk of political influence.
To remove such influences potentially negatively affecting the built environment, the dissertation calls for the full devolution of planning policy making powers, resembling that of Scotland and Wales, to regions and localities in England.
Looking ahead
Hours of research, in formation of my dissertation, made me realise that, during my three years as a planner, I had developed a passion for the field. I look forward to the nuances and challenges that the profession will bring in the coming years and I hope to continue learning and improving way after my apprenticeship comes to an end.
Assistant Planner
