Modernising the internal management of local planning authorities Does it improve performance?

The local government modernisation agenda places specific emphasis on the adoption of specific forms of internal management to achieve better performance. This paper investigates the connections between these 'desirable' managerial characteristics and performance as measured by performance indicators. Specifically, it asks do the forms of internal management make any difference to local planning performance? To answer this question, the paper draws on a survey of 174 English local planning authorities. Data suggest that poorly performing local planning authorities are managerially indistinguishable from the best performing authorities. This raises questions over the suitability of managerial reforms for achieving performance improvement in planning.