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There are some current attempts to revive council-employed architects although it's small-scale and in the context of cash-strapped planning depts not really sure whether it will come to anything. Croydon as ever are forging into a brave new era of council-led development and design. (I'm not sure myself how tongue-in-cheek I'm being. Partly, I guess.)
hoefla
Vanneau
I'd suspect they will never get that expertise back - they're now dependant on consultancy for most of the things the Borough Architects and their associated offices used to do. The skills aren't there.
There are of course people who make quite a good living arguing down s106 contributions, affordable housing elements, etc. They're well worth their fee, if you're a developer. The public sector no longer has the cash or appetite to argue with them.
You see lots of former councillors who start hawking themselves round offering 'services' to property firms. Professionally they are generally as clueless as you might expect but are sometimes useful for getting the current planning committee on side. The biggest problem of all of course is that no council these days has the taste to fight a potentially expensive appeal.
If the above sounds a bit depressing then, well, it is. Very easy to be nostalgic about some of the things achieved 50 or so years back.