Study title

The Working in the Public Interest Project sought to understand shifts in the UK planning profession. A core strand of the project was to develop an understanding of the current position of the UK Planning Profession, and in particular to understand the relative roles of the private and public sector in this activity. To achieve this, the Project conducted 8 Focus Groups composed of professional planners across the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). The key aim was to generate knowledge of the current state of planning with respect to a range of different issues: outsourcing, the nature of work in each sector, public leadership and attitudes towards the public interest. This generated insights that were written up as Field Reports for 8 Focus Groups of professional planners. Additionally, a 'State of the Nation' Report was co-authored with the Royal Town Planning Institute and derived directly from the focus group material. The collection contains three elements: 1) Anonymised transcript of 6 focus groups (the other 2 are not available); 2 Focus Group reports for all 8 focus groups, which includes transcribed direct quotes and findings from the focus groups; Published report arising from the focus groups 'Serving the Public Interest? The reorganisation of UK planning services in an era of reluctant outsourcing'.This study proposes the first major investigation in the UK into the increasing involvement of private companies in carrying out professional spatial planning work formerly conducted by local government. In the postwar era, decisions about urban development were justified with the idea that state-employed planners served a unified public interest. As politically-neutral bureaucrats working in government, they stood above particular interests to serve a common good. Although this 'public interest' justification has long been challenged it remains important for professional practice. However, over the last 20 years organisational...