Planning Futures

BY INVITATION ONLY

Chair: Catriona Riddell - Catriona Riddell & Associates

Following the recent general election, the new Government has a set out a range of policy proposals relating to a revised NPPF and changes to the broader planning system.

As we look forward to a parliament in which planning and housing are set to be at the forefront of the emerging policy agenda, Planning Futures is hosting a series of events for senior colleagues to discuss the proposed changes and the future direction of the planning system.

These events will take the form of conventional round-table discussions, which will inform Planning Futures’ response to the Government’s consultation document, followed by drinks and dinner at Davy’s of St James.

Planning Futures will be hosting three such events in total in order to accommodate all of our member organisations and will reach out to members individually to ensure that each event has a good mix of public and private sector planners, planning lawyers and other planning professionals.

The round tables will be an opportunity for senior planning professionals to discuss the emerging policy agenda. Whilst these events are open to all member organisations, we are restricting places to Director-level colleagues (or equivalent) only.

As a cross-sector and non-partisan organisation, Planning Futures will not be taking corporate view on the Government’s proposals. Instead, the response document will seek to reflect the views of our member organisations by highlighting points of consensus and noting points of disagreement.

BY INVITATION ONLY

Chair: Catriona Riddell - Catriona Riddell & Associates

Following the recent general election, the new Government has a set out a range of policy proposals relating to a revised NPPF and changes to the broader planning system.

As we look forward to a parliament in which planning and housing are set to be at the forefront of the emerging policy agenda, Planning Futures is hosting a series of events for senior colleagues to discuss the proposed changes and the future direction of the planning system.

These events will take the form of conventional round-table discussions, which will inform Planning Futures’ response to the Government’s consultation document, followed by drinks and dinner at Davy’s of St James.

Planning Futures will be hosting three such events in total in order to accommodate all of our member organisations and will reach out to members individually to ensure that each event has a good mix of public and private sector planners, planning lawyers and other planning professionals.

The round tables will be an opportunity for senior planning professionals to discuss the emerging policy agenda. Whilst these events are open to all member organisations, we are restricting places to Director-level colleagues (or equivalent) only.

As a cross-sector and non-partisan organisation, Planning Futures will not be taking corporate view on the Government’s proposals. Instead, the response document will seek to reflect the views of our member organisations by highlighting points of consensus and noting points of disagreement.

Panel: Hannah David (Planning Futures) - Chair; Gideon Amos OBE MP; Victoria Hills MRTPI FICE - Chief Executive, RTPI; Rhys Moore - Executive Director of Public Impact, National Housing Federation; Andrew Taylor FRTPI -  Group Planning Director, Vistry Group; (Elected) Mayor Peter Taylor of Watford.

Following the 2024 General Election, the Liberal Democrats have returned a record number of MPs to Parliament on a manifesto that promised to ensure that everyone can access housing that meets their needs.

With the party now a major force within both national and local government, this panel will explore how the Liberal Democrats in Parliament and in councils across the country can support the development of new market and affordable housing.

The event will bring together key experts and political leaders to discuss how local authorities, housing associations and developers should work in partnership to create new and improved places and how this effort can be supported by the Liberal Democrats new team in Westminster.

We are delighted to be joined for this special edition of the Planning Futures Supper Club by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage.

The event will take place in Liverpool during this year's Labour Party Conference and is brought to you in partnership with NHBC.

Baroness Taylor has led a distinguished career in Local Government, throughout which she has been a champion for social and affordable housing, and an advocate for improved planning practices.

She has been a Member of Stevenage Council since 1997 and served as leader of the council from 2006 until 2022. She has been a member of Hertfordshire County Council since 2008 and has sat in the House of Lords as a Labour Party Peer since 2022. There, she has made substantial and thoughtful contributions to many debates on legislation related to planning and housing issues – often drawing on her own experience of delivering housing and regeneration schemes in Stevenage.

Following the 2024 General Election, she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and as a Baroness in Waiting (Government Whip) on 9 July 2024.

Following the usual Supper Club format, Baroness Taylor will give a brief after dinner speech followed by questions and discussion amongst attendees.

Panel: Cian Bryan (Planning Futures) - Chair; Matthew Pennycook MP - Minister of State at the MHCLG (tbc); Mark Washer - CEO, Sovereign Network Group; Lindsay Richards - President, RTPI; Andrew Taylor FRTPI -  Group Planning Director, Vistry Group; Panellist - tbc

The new Labour Government has placed housing at the heart of its mission to kickstart economic growth. It has made manifesto commitments to oversee the construction of 1.5 million new homes and to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing for a generation.

In order to meet these ambitions, it will pursue a range of planning reforms over the short, medium, and long-term. It has also signalled an expectation that all planning and housing stakeholders will need to work together in order to deliver the housing that is needed across all tenures and all parts of the country.

This panel event brings together leading experts on planning and housing, in addition to key political figures, to discuss how planning reform and partnership working between public, private and third sector organisations will contribute to Labour’s housing mission.

Panel: Hannah David (Planning Futures) - Chair; Cllr Richard Clewer - Leader, Wiltshire Council; Helen Fadipe MRTPI - Vice President, RTPI; Kate Henderson - Chief Executive, National Housing Federation; Kit Malthouse MP - Former Planning/Housing Minister; Andrew Taylor FRTPI -  Group Planning Director, Vistry Group.

The Conservative Party went into the general election with a manifesto promise to build 1.6 million new homes over the course of the new parliament.

Whilst the party is no longer in government, it will still have a significant role in shaping housing delivery through local government, where it remains a significant force, and through its role as the official opposition in parliament.

This event will bring together leading industry experts and key political figures to discuss how Conservative-held local authorities can work in partnership with developers and housing associations to bring forward new market and affordable housing.

It will also explore the party’s plans to support this work from Westminster and the principles that will drive the Conservatives’ housing agenda over the coming years.