Preston City Council commended in a recent report for its dedication to Community Wealth Building

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies, (CLES) recently released 'Powering Up Planning', a report investigating different councils' approach to using the planning system to deliver better outcomes for their towns and cities and how the planning system builds community wealth.

The findings in the report, were compiled through roundtables and conversations with local authority representatives, planners and planning authorities from across the UK, interested in sharing insights on how their work is demonstrating the social value impact that can be achieved by applicants within the existing planning system.

In the report's case studies, CLES took a deep dive into Preston, Salford, Islington and Scotland's approach to creating Community Wealth Building through the planning system and how it benefited the community.

Preston was commended for becoming a champion for Community Wealth Building in 2012, when the Council and anchor partners adopted a more active approach to using their procurement spend, land and other assets, and role as major employers to support the development of a more inclusive local economy.

In 2017, Preston City Council adopted the Central Lancashire Employment and Skills Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) to deliver its ambitions for Community Wealth Building, particularly with regards to local employment and skills. As a requirement, the SPD insists that planning applications for major commercial, employment and residential developments must include an Employment and Skills Statement (ESS).

Aligning with the SPD, Preston City Council developed Building Foundations, a bespoke and innovative partnership with Calico Enterprise Ltd, a social enterprise based in East Lancashire. Planning applicants can choose to pay Calico to act for the Council and review an ESS which they (the applicant) have prepared; or engage Calico directly to prepare an ESS on their behalf. The cost of monitoring the delivery of all approved ESSs is met through the Section 106 agreement1.

Building Foundations connects developers with local partners and the Council's Community Engagement team to encourage the promotion of employment, training and skills to local residents, helping to meet targets approved in ESSs.

Since Building Foundations was established in November 2021, three developments in Preston East, have been completed under the new partnership, all of which have met or exceeded the targets set out in the ESS.

There are now 17 signed Section 106 agreements, which require a developer contribution to monitor the delivery of the approved ESS.

Highlighting the success of this initiative, in June 2024, Preston City Council and Calico were commended for their Building Foundations partnership at the Royal Town Planning Institute North West Awards in the "Excellence in Planning for a Successful Economy" category.

The Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building, Councillor Valerie Wise said:

"The inclusion of Building Foundations in the CLES report and the project's commendation at the Royal Town Planning Institute's North West Awards provides more evidence of how Community Wealth Building is benefiting local people by improving access to good jobs and training. We look forward to seeing more jobs and apprentices on sites across the city as more developers start delivering their employment and skills commitments."

This new report highlights good practice in applying the principles of Community Wealth Building in innovative ways at Preston and other local authorities to deliver benefits to residents.