Sir John Egan was asked by ODPM to conduct a review of skills needed by built environment professionals to deliver the sustainable communities plan. He established a task group to define the goal to be achieved, clarify responsibilities for delivery, look at processes for delivery and how these might be improved and, finally, to ask what skills are needed to make the processes work.
The Egan skills review makes key recommendations for central and local government, built environment professionals, developers, public service providers, communities and the business and voluntary sector.
A new national centre for sustainable communities skills is proposed. This would contribute to research and debate on sustainable communities, identify skills gaps, review the formal education available for core occupations and encourage more entrants into these professions.
Full details of the ODPM press release can be found on their website.