The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has backed a call by communities secretary, Hazel Blears, for more planners to be represented on council cabinets and given a more prominent position in senior management teams. Ms Blears told delegates at the secondary RTPI Politicians in Planning Network conference: ‘I want to see people with planning expertise in cabinets and on management teams prepared to champion planning, because no-one wins when you have planning off on its own as a separate thing.' RTPI secretary general, Robert Upton, added: ‘Good local authorities understand that spatial planning is essential to deliver all aspects of a community's vision for itself.'
