Ms Maria Graham:

Part and parcel of looking in depth at the planning system and at town regeneration is that, in many respects, it is a multidisciplinary team in regard to asking what skills that are required. It may be a professional skill but it may also be around the personal enthusiasm and commitment to the job. These may be found in different professions in the different local authorities. It is about how they work in the particular local authority in terms of pulling those skills together. We have been less prescriptive about what that skill is but it is important that there is a range of skills available.

I agree with the Chairman that there are very good examples out there and that was why in the Town Centre First document, there is a great deal of examples because that is the kind of best practice we are talking about. To be honest, and Mr. O’Brien and I would agree, we had to code the number of examples going into the document. This involves building on what we have, which is 500 or so towns and multiples of villages. It is a big task.