Communities and neighbourhoods

The Egan Review of Skills

The Deputy Prime Minister invited Sir John Egan to undertake a review of the skills and training that built environment professionals require to deliver sustainable communities.

The Review looked at the skills and training required by professionals, planning authorities and developers and how they can work together in achieving measurable improvements to the communities they serve. It also considered how any skills gap can best be bridged.

Sir John's overall approach to the Review was to consider:

the attributes and qualities which make communities sustainable and how these elements can be measured in terms of success and failure;
the processes necessary to deliver success;
the professional skills needed for those processes and how they differ from what we have available now; and
the necessary changes to processes and professional skills.

Sir John was assisted by a Task Group of 16 key individuals, experts and innovative thinkers from the public and private sectors. From the Task Group, Sir John established five working-groups which investigated different aspects and issues in detail with respect to the apparent skills shortage.

The Egan Review report was published on 19 April 2004.