§ Mr. Brooksasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the current shortfall in the trained staffs of each of the local planning authorities throughout England and Wales in relation to the establishments approved for each of those authorities.
§ Mr. SkeffingtonI regret that the information is not available. Information about the situation in 1964 is given in Appendix C, Table 2 of the report of the Mallaby Committee on Staffing of Local Government. The statistics for planning staff were as follows:
Planning Officers Overall Establishment Posts Unfilled and which had been vacant to six months or more Counties 1,474 79 County Boroughs 900 119
§ Mr. Brooksasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what advice he proposes to give to local planning authorities as to how they should meet the difficulties they face due to shortages of trained staff.
§ Mr. SkeffingtonThe Mallaby Committee on the Staffing of Local Government made a number of recommendations about the shortages of trained staff in local government. Their proposals included more extensive training, and the effective use of skilled manpower by more efficient management, and by the use of technical, clerical and other ancillary assistants. One of the most important recommendations was for the establishment of a Local Government Training Board and this was set up last September.
In the case of planning staff, I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a letter sent to local authorities in 1965 urging them to assist members of their own staffs and others to take planning courses. This advice still holds good.