Chamber and committees

On 11 July 2016, the Scottish Ministers issued our response to the independent review of planning. The response states that we agree with many of the panel’s recommendations and outlines both the immediate and longer term actions we will take to bring about planning improvement and reform.

We are committed to working in collaboration with key stakeholders and will be setting up themed working groups to consider the options in more detail. This work will inform a White Paper, which we intend to fully consult on in Winter 2016.

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) sets out national planning policies for the protection and enhancement of the built environment. These promote the care and protection of the designated and non-designated historic environment whilst enabling positive change. Change should be sensitively managed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts on the fabric or setting of a historic environment asset and ensure that its special characteristics are protected, conserved or enhanced in development proposals.

We have listened to what registered social landlords need to increase the pace and momentum of housing delivery and are continuing to work closely with them and with all of our partners from across the housing sector to ensure the stable supply of more affordable homes.

We are committed to investing over £3 billion over the next five years to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes and in January grant subsidies for housing associations were increased by up to £14,000 for each home.

The Joint Housing Policy and Delivery Group (JHPDG) brings together stakeholders from across housing, including the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF), the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations SFHA) and the Council of Mortgage lenders. This group is working together to ensure that we make the best use of all our resources and expertise to deliver more homes and to collectively agree what delivery actions are vital at this time.

The independent planning review panel recommended that a national infrastructure agency or working group with statutory powers should be established. In our response to the review, which we published on 11 July 2016, we committed to looking at the detail of this, and the other recommendations, in more detail over the coming months.

The planning review covered a wide range of complex issues. Over the coming months, we will investigate the detail and implications of the review recommendations and will identify which improvements require legislative change. We will publish a White Paper in Winter 2016.

Scottish Planning Policy (2014) sets out the Scottish Government's policy on enabling the delivery of new homes. It sets out that local authorities, through their development plans, should address the supply of land for all housing, maintaining at least a five-year supply of effective housing land at all times. Planning authorities should prepare an annual housing land audit as a tool to review and monitor the availability of effective housing land, the progress of sites through the planning process, and housing completions. This information is not collated centrally.

Scottish Historic Environment Policy 2011 (SHEP 2011) was replaced by a new policy statement from Historic Environment Scotland (HES) on 01 June 2016. The Historic Environment Scotland Policy Statement updates the operational policy that was set out in SHEP 2011 and reflects the legislative changes that were introduced by the Historic Environment Scotland Act 2014 and its attendant secondary legislation. This policy statement represents a strengthening of the operational policy and guidance framework which informs our collective management of the historic environment and complements the strategic framework and vision set out in Our Place in Time, Scotland’s historic environment strategy, which was published in March 2014.

The Scottish Government will participate fully in the examination of the UK's record by the UN Committee. The Scottish Government provides a contribution to formal UK written submissions to United Nations Committees as part of the reporting cycle under international human rights treaties. Normal practice is for the UK delegation at the oral session in Geneva to be headed by a senior UK official and Scotland will be represented, by a Scottish Government official with appropriate policy knowledge and experience. In this instance the relevant official will be the Scottish Government's Head of Equality Strategy.

The Scottish Government is committed to incorporating equality practices across its activities, both in developing policy and as an employer. The work of the Scottish Government is underpinned by the principle that no one should be denied opportunities because of their race or ethnicity, their disability, their gender or sexual orientation, their age or religion.

In May 2012, equality duties came into effect which mean the Scottish Government must equality impact assess its new or revised policies and practices and must also, within a reasonable period, publish the results of such assessments. An equality impact assessment should be an integral part of the policy making process, to shape and inform policy.

The programme for government illustrates the policies, actions and legislation that the Scottish Government will take forward to deliver its core purpose. It does not play a part in the development or implementation of policy or practices, therefore it will not be subject to an equality impact assessment. Instead, equality impact assessments will be undertaken by the accountable policy areas as part of the policy making process.

NHS Fife are currently in the process of developing a business case for the project, and the project will be funded by central funds when it is approved by the NHS Capital Investment Group.