Chamber and committees

Scottish Government has been actively engaging Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on the development of National Planning Framework 3 (NPF3) and the preparation of revised Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) and looks forward to receiving SNH’s views on the NPF3 Main Issues Report and draft Scottish Planning Policy when these are issued for consultation. SNH will use their strategic locational guidance to help inform their response(s) to these consultations.

The new Planning Performance Frameworks have been designed to give local authorities the opportunity to provide information on their organisational structure and the level of staff within that structure. As these were the first ever Planning Performance Frameworks, the level of information provided by each authority varies greatly. However, we will work with Heads of Planning Scotland (HoPS) to refine the requirements for the next round of frameworks to enable more accurate analysis.

Similarly, the frameworks allow authorities the opportunity to identify the skill sets available to them within their organisation and what measures have been introduced to encourage a culture of continuous improvement. It is useful to have a record of this information and the Scottish Government has committed a further £20,000 this year to HoPS to help further develop skills. Since 2006, the Scottish Government has invested over £2.7 million in local authority skills development through the Planning Development Programme. However, it is ultimately the responsibility of each authority to ensure that they possess the skills necessary to carry out their planning duties effectively and efficiently.

The Scottish Government will be publishing a Scotland-wide report that will provide a summary of information collated from the annual performance reports by each planning authority and key agency. It is expected that each organisation will make their own annual report available on the web.

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on a quarterly basis that sets out the performance of planning authorities on different types of planning applications. This information guides authorities who benchmark against other comparable authorities and helps to focus attempts to improve efficiency. These statistics are not formally recognised as planning targets.

A breakdown of the bids by local authority is available from the planning - renewable energy page of the Scottish Government’s website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/National-Planning-Policy/themes/renewables/windresources. Individual bids, which have also been made available on the website, set out the local purpose of the allocation. We will return to planning authorities later this year to understand what impact the funds have made.

We have reported to the Scottish Parliament annually since 2011 on the operation of Section 72 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, as required by and within the terms of Section 73 of the Act. This year’s report will be laid before the Scottish Parliament by 1 April. Previous year’s reports have the following laying numbers: SG/2011/21 and SG/2012/38.

The issue of performance is a key strand of planning reform and the Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring that planning realises its potential in aiding economic recovery. The Scottish Government in partnership with COSLA are establishing a high level group to monitor and review the performance of planning authorities and to consider proposals to link performance with wider reform of planning fees.

The review of strategic development plans will consider whether the current procedural arrangements and approaches to the preparation of these plans are fit for purpose. The review will commence in Summer 2013.

Monitoring of all tracks to ensure compliance with planning control is, as is the case for all development, primarily the responsibility of the relevant planning authority.

Scottish Natural Heritage’s good practice guidance in respect of upland tracks is currently being updated and will be published shortly.

The Scottish Government has reported to the Scottish Parliament annually since 2011 on the operation of Section 72 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, as required by and within the terms of Section 73 of the Act. This year’s report will be laid before the Scottish Parliament by 1 April. Previous year’s reports have the following laying numbers: SG/2011/21 and SG2012/38.

The Scottish Government does not monitor implementation of sections 70 and 71 of the Act as the Orders that conferred permitted development rights on domestic air source heat pumps, domestic wind turbines and non-domestic microgeneration installations removed those classes of development from the planning application process.

The intention is to reconvene the Expert Panel around the middle of 2013 and officials are currently discussing the remit of the Panel with Lynne Sullivan. It is anticipated that the Panel will report back in autumn 2013.