Planning Indicators in England: A Top-Down Evolutionary Tale

Nowhere is this more apparent than in English planning where the tendency is still to measure performance on the basis of administrative speed alone, a practice that has frequently been criticized as distorting the service by moving the emphasis and resources away from delivering quality outputs. With the introduction in the late 1990s of a new so called 'Best Value' regime across the public sector and an increasing emphasis on better quality design, for a brief moment, the opportunity seemed to exist to address the problem; at least inasmuch as top-down approaches can precipitate real and lasting change at the local level. However, as with much that is politically driven, results were sought before the means of measuring were put in place, resulting in more muddle than clarity. Thus, in reality, a measure of holistic quality still remains an aspiration, and one that is very far from being achieved. The history of performance measurement and planning is largely one of a national concern for the speed of decision-making. This history has, in short, manifested itself in an excruciating series of modifications to a limited range of national indicators aimed at encouraging faster performance in local authorities.