The adopted National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) places significant weight on how the planning system should account for local business needs, allowing “each area to build on its strengths, counter any weaknesses and address the challenges of the future.”

Now the draft NPPF, which recently concluded consultation on 10 March 2026, places the highest weight on economic growth and productivity within new national decision-making policy.

Future economic growth and productivity is dependent on the capacity to accelerate construction. However, the UK construction sector is facing its most acute and prolonged skills shortage in nearly 25 years, according to the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS).

This shortage is particularly prominent in London, where an ageing workforce, reduced European Union migration and the lowest construction apprenticeship uptake of any English region are, according to Cambridge Centre for Housing and Research (Construction and Building Trades: The Skills Horizon), tightening the labour supply. 

Addressing the skills shortage

The government has made it clear that expanding training and skills provision is critical to addressing this deficit and is essential for meeting the national ambition to build 1.5 million new homes, including over 400,000 in London, by 2029.

The London Plan directs development to support local employment and skills creation in both the construction and operational phases. In response, London boroughs have been increasingly turning to Employment & Skills Plans (ESPs) to secure these upskilling opportunities.

Savills Planning Economics team has identified requirements for ESPs – or similarly named agreements – in 25 out of 33 local authorities. Of these, over half are from planning documents adopted after 2020. However, the requirements are inconsistent as they are expressed in either the validation checklist, the local plan, or planning obligations supplementary planning document (SPD), or a combination, as shown in the image below.

This impacts when and how negotiations take place and agreements are secured. The requirements also vary significantly in scope, benchmarks and expected level of engagement with key stakeholders.

A standardised template

Employment and skills needs differ by borough and this is reflected in a template our Planning Economics team has produced which standardises the ESP process, incorporating local policy guidance and streamlining negotiations between the applicant and local authority.

In the past five years, the team has advised on employment and skills targets for more than 20 complex development schemes. One example is for the recently approved London Cancer Hub. Due to its scale and significance, the scheme presented a valuable opportunity to deliver substantial upskilling and employment benefits to the community. Our negotiations with Sutton Council established a series of evidence-based, proportionate objectives. These included:

• 30% local employment in construction
• providing 210 unemployed local residents with paid construction roles for a minimum of four weeks
• 142 apprenticeships for local residents
• 35 opportunities for care‑experienced local residents
• supported internships for young people with special educational needs and disabilities
• 350 work placements for local students
• 70 careers activities at local schools and colleges
• 300 qualifications for local residents
• a 10% target for all goods and services for the development to be sourced from suppliers within the London Borough of Sutton
• ensuring all contractors and tenants pay at least the London Living Wage

ESPs are becoming a central feature of local policy, with councils increasingly embedding them into the development process to boost resident upskilling. 

For more information about robust and deliverable employment and skills strategies contact: 

Gabriel Baudard or Jonathan Adcock-Shepherd