Public Practice Announces Autumn 2026 Cohort

• Public Practice has announced its Autumn 2026 cohort of Associates, bringing 41 built environment professionals into Authorities across England to strengthen planning and placemaking capability at a critical moment for the sector.

• This latest intake will see Associates placed in 28 Authorities, including new partners Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Bassetlaw District Council, West Northamptonshire Council and South Norfolk Council.

• The Autumn 2026 cohort includes more planning roles than any cohort since Public Practice launched in 2017, with planning roles making up 49% of placements. This reflects the national agenda’s wider focus on planning and housing delivery. Roles in this cohort span planning policy, local plan management, development management and infrastructure planning, as Authorities build the capacity they need to prepare up-to-date plans, determine applications and unlock the homes and infrastructure their communities need.

• Public Practice is committed to building multidisciplinary teams and supporting talented and motivated professionals to transition into public sector roles where their skills are most needed. The cohort continues the same trend as Spring 2026; it includes many architects moving into planning roles, highlighting the value of transferable expertise in addressing the national planning capacity crisis.

• A salary support programme funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has enabled the development of this cohort, reflecting a shared commitment to strengthening planning and placemaking capability across local government.

Authorities continue to face significant workforce pressures in a changing working environment. Public Practice’s latest Recruitment and Skills Report found that 54% of officers lacked the capacity to deliver beyond their statutory duties. Their recent Planning Teams for the Future Report, developed with Olive Branch Consulting, sets out a path from “fragmented systems and overstretched teams towards more agile, place-based and future-ready models” by 2030. It recommends protecting core services, upskilling teams, reducing duplication and pooling skills across services. The Associate Programme supports this shift now. It redistributes existing skills across the sector, so Authorities can bring in experienced professionals whose transferable skills let them hit the ground running and build long-term careers in public service.

Since launching in 2017, Public Practice has delivered 469 placements in over 110 public sector organisations across England, with its 2024 Company Impact Report stating that over 70% of Associates remained working in the public sector 2+ years after the (12-month) programme ended.

The Associate Programme supports mid-career professionals to work within Authorities through a structured placement, alongside tailored learning and development and a peer network. Each of these support Associates to become confident and resilient enabling longer-term capability within planning and placemaking teams.

Among those joining this cohort are:

• Stuart Darling brings his extensive experience working in design-led and multidisciplinary architectural practices as a designer and project leader to South Norfolk Council as New Settlement Project Manager

• Neli Vasileva is an architect and urban strategist with over 15 years' experience across architecture, housing, regeneration, heritage and infrastructure projects in the UK and internationally. Neli joins Bristol City Council as Deputy Head of Planning Services (Planning Policy)

• Karam Alkatlabe, a project delivery specialist with over a decade leading capital programmes across housing, infrastructure and construction will join Bassetlaw District Council as Principal Planning Officer (Development Management)

• Jade Pollard, an architect with a diverse experience working in the UK, UAE and Australia joins North Warwickshire Council as Development Management System Support Manager

• Mary Anne Constable joins West Northamptonshire Council as Major Projects Officer and brings experience in commercial, heritage, regeneration, adaptive reuse, as well as 15 years practicising architecture in Cape Town.

Pooja Agrawal, Chief Executive of Public Practice, said:

“This cohort shows how many people want to work in public sector planning. Some are coming home or returning to the places they grew up. Others are bringing experience from elsewhere into the UK planning system for the first time. The common thread that runs through all of them is the drive to improve people’s lives, whether in a community they know well or one that is entirely new to them. At a time when Authorities are calling out for capacity, they bring fresh energy and expertise to shaping places across the country.”

Samuel Stafford, Managing Director, Land, Planning and Development Federation (LPDF) said:

“Councils can’t deliver the homes and growth the country needs without enough planners. Our members see the impact of under-resourced planning departments every day, with decisions taking longer, local plans going out of date and good schemes held up. We’re proud to partner with Public Practice, and it’s great to see 41 experienced professionals heading into councils, with almost half of them in planning roles. This is a practical way to build capacity, and we’d like to see it scaled up so every authority has the people it needs to plan properly and make decisions on time.”

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Are you looking to use your placemaking skills for public good? You can find more information on the Public Practice website.

If you work in a public sector organisation and would like to know more about Public Practice’s recruitment services, you can find further details on the website.

ENDS

Jade Pollard

Jade is an Architect with a diverse experience working in the UK, UAE and Australia, across a number of typologies and scales including residential, retail as well as cultural. Her past projects include regeneration projects led by Local Authorities to revitalise public places as well as protecting and enhancing historic fabric. Jade is a designer who relishes the thorough exploration of a brief and place who enjoys tackling new challenges particularly problem solving. She has a passion for in depth research into the local context, communities and materiality to develop concepts that knit together a project with its surroundings.

Karam Alkatlabe

Karam is a project delivery specialist with over a decade leading capital programmes across housing, infrastructure and construction. He holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Cambridge and has led multidisciplinary teams through complex, multi-stakeholder delivery. From large-scale projects with the Aga Khan Foundation to commercial delivery in the United States and housing plans work with Islington Council in London, his experience spans both international and UK-based delivery. His practice is underpinned by sustainability credentials, including carbon literacy training. Prior to joining the Associate Programme, Karam worked across public and private sector planning, sustainable design and construction delivery.

Mary Anne Constable

Mary Anne studied architecture in Cape Town, South Africa, practising there for over 15 years. She has worked on commercial, heritage, regeneration, adaptive reuse, and residential projects, and was the architectural lead for the Green Point Athletics Track redevelopment and Green Point Common public-realm projects – part of Cape Town’s 2010 FIFA World Cup legacy. Alongside practice, she founded The Paper Architect, a writing and communications consultancy specialising in sustainability in the built environment. She is also a multi-award-winning property journalist and magazine editor. Now based in the UK, Mary Anne is committed to supporting sustainable development and community-focused placemaking through local planning in Northamptonshire – a place where she has strong family roots.

Stuart Darling

Stuart has extensive experience working in design-led and multidisciplinary architectural practices as a designer and project leader. He has worked for local authorities, housing associations, developers and private clients, in London and nationally. He has particular expertise and interest in estate regeneration, the conservation of heritage buildings, social and specialist housing, and more recently private houses, sports and leisure. Stuart has a collaborative working approach, with strong communication, project management and design leadership skills, and experience working in complex, politically sensitive environments, engaging clients, consultants, contractors and communities to achieve positive outcomes.

Neli Vasileva

Neli is an architect and urban strategist with over 15 years' experience across architecture, housing, regeneration, heritage and infrastructure projects in the UK and internationally. Before joining the Public Practice Associates Programme, she worked with practices including ZHA, Grimshaw, ACME and A-Lab (Oslo), alongside teaching architecture and urban design at the University of Nottingham. Her work has focused on how buildings, infrastructure and existing urban fabric can support city transformation. Her interests centre on inner-city density, infill and adaptive reuse, design quality and how planning policy can effectively shape sustainable and resilient urban growth.

The full cohort list can be accessed here

MEDIA PACK

Here is an image to accompany the press release. Photography by Dion Barrett.

NOTES TO EDITORS

All media requests, including requests for comment/interview from/with Pooja Agrawal (CEO), should be sent to felicity.gransden@publicpractice.org.uk

ABOUT PUBLIC PRACTICE

Public Practice was founded as a social enterprise in 2017 to build the

public sector’s capability to improve the quality, equality, and sustainability of places. It believes that the role of local government is crucial in creating and managing everyday places that work for everyone and that to achieve this, it must be well-resourced with diverse placemaking skills and the right support to lead the way.

The organisation delivers services to help the public sector build capacity and develop its placemaking capabilities, including recruiting talented professionals through the Associate Programme, providing workforce design strategy, a senior-level Jobs Board, and publishing annual insights to improve knowledge sharing and practice.

www.publicpractice.org.uk/

FUNDERS

Public Practice has support from the private, third and public sectors. Public Practice’s grant funders and supporters include MHCLG and the Greater London Authority. Partners include Legal and General, L&Q, Land, Planning and Development Federation and the RTPI. More information here.