Chartered Town Planner Apprentice

Chartered Town Planner Apprentices work with us for three years. During this time, with your course fees fully covered, you will undertake an MSc in Urban Planning, attending the University of the West of England in-person one day a week over two years. After successful completion of the MSc you will, in the third year, work towards becoming a Chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (achieving MRTPI status). You will be in a paid role, supported by mentors, where you can see the practical applications of what you’re learning.

The main part of the role is as an Appeal Planning Officer. You will conduct and make recommendations on small scale appeal casework (including undertaking site visits which will involve travel and some overnight stays). In addition, there will be opportunities to gain other professional experience across a wider range of work the Planning Inspectorate carries out.

The Planning Inspectorate has a long and proud history in ensuring a fair planning system for England. The work we do has a significant impact on people’s lives, the communities where they live and the economy.

We want our colleagues to be able to work more flexibly and more collaboratively, exploring new and innovative ways to improve the way we provide services.

For further information on the Planning Inspectorate, please see the information pack attached. You can also view our careers page at Civil Service Careers

Are you someone who wants to learn and build your career? Do you like looking at things from different points of view, weighing up evidence and making decisions? Are you interested in the built environment and do you want to make better places where people can live, work and play? Are you committed and willing to study? Then this apprenticeship could be for you.

We are looking for people who want to gain academic and professional qualifications; can balance study with a professional workload; are highly self-motivated, self-reliant, able to work alone; willing to travel and are able to analyse and interpret evidence to produce concise and well-reasoned reports.

During term time a typical fortnight for our Chartered Town Planner Apprentices could look like this:

Day 1: Prepare for your site visits. Read all the written evidence. What are the main issues for this appeal? What factors are important for the appellant, the Council and any neighbours? What will you need to look at on site?

Day 2: Site visits. Travel to the sites (drive, get a bus, a train, walk, cycle or sometimes fly or get a ferry). Conduct the visits to put the written evidence in context. Sometimes you will meet the appellant or their representative. Enjoy getting to see a different part of the country. Find somewhere decent to get lunch.

Day 3: Attend UWE. Lectures, workshops, seminars. Learn from the teaching staff and your fellow students.

Days 4-7: Write your recommendation reports. In the office, or at home. Review all the evidence and decide if you think the planning appeal should be allowed (and planning permission granted) or dismissed (and planning permission refused). Call me, or other Planning Inspectors, for advice. Write a well-reasoned recommendation in plain English. Respond to any feedback we give you.

Day 8: Attend UWE again. Keep learning!

Day 9: Attend a team meeting, have a 1-1 with your manager and review upcoming cases. Discuss any relevant changes to legislation, policy or guidance and any interesting or unusual appeal cases that you have dealt with recently. Learn from Planning Inspectors and other professional colleagues.

Raise any questions or concerns. Do you need any additional support or training?

Review your upcoming cases. Have you got all the information you need? Book any travel for the site visits.

Day 10: Write your recommendation reports. Keep writing!

Evenings and weekends: Be prepared to do course work, carryout directed reading and crack on with your dissertation. Don’t do any Planning Inspectorate work. Take time to relax and have fun.

For full information on the role and assessment process please refer to the candidate pack attached.

Office Attendance

This is an office-based role and you will be contractually located at our offices in Bristol, however you will spend some of your time working from home. We encourage office attendance to foster collaboration, conversation, group creativity and employee wellbeing. You will be expected to attend the office at least 12 times a year. Depending on your role, you may be required to attend the office more often, either permanently or temporarily, to ensure we deliver our services in the most efficient and effective way for our customers. If you would like to discuss our Office Attendance in more detail, please contact us at PINS.Recruitment@planninginspectorate.gov.uk.

Question and Answer Session

We will be holding a question and answer session on 13 March at 12.00. This gives you the opportunity to speak to current apprentices, meet our team of managers and ask questions about the apprenticeship. To take up this opportunity, please contact us at:

PINS.Recruitment@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

Essential Criteria

• Honours degree at 2.2 or above (ideally in geography, planning or a related discipline) or relevant professional experience of making independent decisions or recommendations gained in a profession relevant to the work of The Planning Inspectorate.
  (Your academic qualifications or professional experience must be sufficient to allow for successful enrolment on MSc Urban Planning at UWE. You are not eligible to apply if you are already a Chartered member or a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and/or hold a post graduate qualification accredited by the RTPI.)
• Ability to reach well-reasoned conclusions derived from analysis of large volumes of information.
• Excellent time management skills to enable production of high-quality recommendations within defined timescales.
• Ability to write clearly, accurately and concisely in order to make logical, well-reasoned, evidence-based recommendations.
• Be comfortable interacting with, and gaining the confidence of, a wide range of people from all sorts of backgrounds and with different levels of experience of the planning system.
• Ability to learn quickly and to think for yourself.
• Willingness and ability to balance academic study and a challenging professional workload.
• A sense of pride in your work and driven to achieve results.
• Pro-active and willing to take responsibility for your own development and career progression.

  
  Eligibility Criteria

  
  To be eligible for the apprenticeship, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be aged 16 or over.
• Meet the nationality requirements list further down the advert ( with the right to work in the UK) for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of the apprenticeship. and not be in any other kind of full-time education (including being enrolled on any other apprenticeship programme).
• Minimum GCSE grade (or equivalent) of a C/level 4 in maths and English.
  More information about eligibility for apprenticeship funding is available on the GOV.UK website.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Developing Self and Others
• Making Effective Decisions

Application

Complete the online application form on Civil Service Jobs which requires the following information:

• A CV: The CV section is an opportunity for you to detail your career history. It should outline the jobs you have done, the length of time you were employed within each role and a brief description of your role, responsibilities and duties which demonstrate relevance to the role you are applying for against the essential criteria. You must type, or ‘copy and paste’ into the text box called ‘Employment History’ within the online application. You cannot attach a copy of your CV.
  
• A Personal Statement (1250 words max): The personal statement allows you to outline your suitability for the role in more depth, expanding on your CV evidence. It is an opportunity for you to provide evidence against the essential criteria listed within the candidate pack on the Person Specification page and link your answers to the listed Success Profile elements we are also assessing against .

We will assess your application on the evidence you have provided against the Essential Criteria and Success Profile elements detailed in the Person Specification in the candidate pack.

In the event of a large number of applications, a lead sift may take place. The following point will be used as the lead criteria when shortlisting if this happens, and if you do not meet the minimum standard the rest of your application will not be assessed.

• Honours degree at 2.2 or above (ideally in geography, planning or related discipline) or relevant professional experience of making independent decisions or recommendations gained in a profession relevant to the work of The Planning Inspectorate.
• Maths and English GCSE grade (or equivalent) of a C/level 4
• Ability to reach well-reasoned conclusions through analysis of large volumes of information.

All shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome shortly afterwards.

Interview

If you are shortlisted, you will:

• Be asked to attend an interview to have a more in-depth discussion about your experience and suitability for the role
• Interviews will be a blend of behaviour and strength questions

Candidates who are successful at shortlist stage will be sent full assessment requirements with their interview invitations.

Other Information

Shortlist Date: w/c 25th March 2024
Written test Date: w/c 8th April 2024
Interview Date: between 7th and 14th May 2024

Interviews are currently being completed remotely using Microsoft Teams. We would like to reassure candidates that the virtual interview will not be recorded (or retained) within the Planning Inspectorate, other than usual interview protocol and in line with the Civil Service jobs Privacy notice.

We encourage all candidates to make themselves familiar with the role and what we will be assessing you against which is detailed in the Person Specification.

ID and Documents

If specific qualifications/memberships are essential for the role and you are successful, you will be asked to provide accurate scanned or photographed images of the qualifications/memberships that you listed on your application prior to your start date.

We must check that any successful candidates are allowed to work for the Civil Service before we employ them. If successful, you will be asked to do a right to work check using identity document validation technology (IDVT) through the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP), Civil Service Jobs. If we are unable to confirm your right to work and through the IDVT we will need to do a manual right to work check using original documents with you in person.

Visa Sponsorship

The Planning Inspectorate cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates, we do not hold a Visa sponsorship licence.

Disability Confident Interview scheme

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. We run a Disability Confident Interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria for the job.

To be considered for an interview under the scheme you must:

• have a disability defined by the Equality Act 2010
• provide evidence in your application that you meet the minimum criteria in the job description
• meet all of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential

While we will endeavour to provide you with all the appropriate information, you are the expert on your specific requirements so if you require any adjustments, you should consider the information provided about the assessment process in the candidate pack and then:

• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. The earlier and more clearly you tell us what you need and why you need it, the more likely we are to be able to accommodate you in a timely fashion.

Existing Civil Servants should ensure that they have an in-principle agreement for a loan prior to applying.

All Planning Inspectorate colleagues must meet the baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window). This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history.

In addition to the BPSS, the level of security clearance required for this role is Security Check (SC) and the process can take a number of weeks to complete. For more details of vetting levels and requirements please refer to the Cabinet Office HMG Personnel Security Controls.

Job contact :

Name :
Laura McKay or Sophie Edwards
Email :
pins.recruitment@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email :
pins.recruitment@planninginspectorate.gov.uk