The Local Government Association (LGA) is offering councils financial support to help boost their planning capacity through the Pathways to Planning initiative.
This initiative provides local planning authorities with a pipeline of new planners. Last year, almost 90 graduate planners started work through the programme.
This year, with the support of £4.5m of Government funding, the LGA is able to offer councils salary bursaries to cover part or all of a graduate planner’s salary.
Cllr Abi Brown OBE, chair of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board, said: ‘We urge councils to seize this opportunity with both hands, it’s a great way to bring in excellent talent at the exact right time.’