Prior to 2005 Salford City Council had an in-house Development Services Directorate that provided services in three broad areas: engineering and highways; property management; and development, planning and building control. In 2003 the directorate identified a number of threats to its viability including an erosion of the directorate's traditional internal client base and an increasing number of claims against the Council linked to the condition of the Council's roads and pavements. The directorate needed to respond by securing future investment and workload, while at the same time not costing the Council any more money.

The proposed solution was a radical one: a joint venture partnership with the private sector.

Urban Vision represents an innovative way to provide council planning services. It is early days for the model but so far is delivering a good service with clear benefits as follows:

Staff recruitment and retention: The flexibility for staff to work beyond Salford allows them to broaden their horizons and has been described by staff as a 'win-win situation'.

Access to expertise: Capita Symonds has a broad range of expertise that Urban Vision can draw upon, including acoustics, air quality, ecology, landscape, urban design and water management. While Urban Vision has to pay for these services, it has agreed the framework and reduced rates in advance to underpin fast, effective advice.

Emphasis on performance management: The joint venture has extended and clarified manager responsibilities. Managers told us that they now had the 'time and the tools to manage'.

Selling services: An ability to sell its services to other councils allows better management of workload and retention of key skills. In addition, there are benefits for other councils who may be able to tap into extra capacity or skills, such as experience of brownfield redevelopment, which they do not hold in-house.

Greater integration: Creation of the joint venture has led to closer links between the planners in Urban Vision and those retained in-house. Because the Council remains the planning authority for all planning applications, a direct employee of the Council, in the planning policy section, has to sign off all delegated decisions. This has created a direct link between policy and development control, which did not exist before."