Planning and Architecture

Investing in Planning – Next Steps

September 23, 2024 by planningarchitecture No Comments | Category Consultation, High Level Group, Investing in Planning, Planning, Planning Fees

Investing in Planning – Next Steps

The Investing in Planning consultation set out a range of proposals aimed at increasing the capacity of the planning system, particularly planning authorities. The consultation ran from February to May 2024 and we have published the responses and our summary of those responses.

Proposals for implementation

In response to the consultation, we intend to take forward the following actions to improve the resourcing and capacity of the planning system in Scotland.

National Planning Hub

We have established a National Planning Hub to provide direct support to planning authorities, strengthening capacity and accelerating decision making and development delivery. The Hub will be hosted within the Improvement Service, building on existing activities by the National Planning Improvement Champion. In its first year the Hub will provide urgent action to support hydrogen proposals and we will look to expand the Hub in future years for other priority areas, including good quality homes and onshore wind.

Supporting Planning Authority Resourcing

We are increasing planning fees to provide urgent additional financial resources to planning authorities. Our expected timeline includes:

December 2024:

• introducing an annual inflationary linked increase to fees which will address the impact of inflation in 2022 and 2023;
• extending the range of discretionary charges which authorities can introduce to cover masterplan consent areas and processing agreements;
• increasing the fee for prior notification/approval applications; and
• adjusting the fee for shellfish farming.

 Summer 2025:

• increasing planning fees in line with inflation for 2024;
• introducing fees for appealing a refusal of planning permission determined by local review bodies;
• introducing fees for appealing a refusal of planning permission determined by Scottish Ministers; and
• a new category of development for Hydrogen.

Spring 2026:

• increasing fees in line with inflation for 2025;

Streamlining the System

We are conscious that increasing fees is not the sole solution to improving the planning system and service. We are taking forward a range of proposals which are intended to streamline processes and provide efficiencies which have the potential to speed up decision making and increase the capacity within authorities, and agencies. We will:

• lead the Proportionality Working Group to promote a more proportionate approach to the information required to support the submission of a planning application. The group are working through specific practical examples; will look at validation requirements; and will share principles for effective ways of working;
• work with Heads of Planning Scotland to:
• roll-out standard templates for Section 75 Planning Obligations;
• produce a standard working template for common planning conditions, bringing consistency and predictability to the post consent process; and
• identify scope for improvement of cross council working to better align consents;
• support the National Planning Improvement Champion with the roll out of the National Planning Improvement Framework.

Supporting Skills

Increasing capacity and skills was highlighted as a key issue in the consultation. Ensuring that authorities have access to the right skills and people is vital. We will:

• create a planning apprenticeship programme to invest in new talent to provide a pipeline of skilled planners. Learning from initiatives already developed by some local authorities, we are initially focusing on Scottish Government capacity for consenting;
• collaborate with stakeholders to create a Planning Skills Commitment Plan;
• coordinate a training programme to help increase skills capacity through intense training, identifying gaps for priority action and sharing good practice with links to NPF4;
• collate different types of training currently on offer and identify gaps for priority action;
• conduct Inspirational Recruitment In-Days and invite future planners into Scottish Government to hear about the breadth and impact of planning, to encourage careers across the profession;
• champion a new modern image of planning and promote it as a career, more, on social media together with raising the profile of job opportunities across Scotland.
• connect with Planning Aid Scotland to explore how mandatory training for elected members could be implemented.

Proposals under further consideration

Investing in Planning set out a proposal for an online transaction charge to cover the ongoing provision, maintenance, improvement and replacement of the current eDevelopment service. We are considering the details of this proposal further before clarifying next steps.

Investing in Planning invited stakeholder views on adjusting the threshold for applications under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. We continue to consider the process and timeline for making any changes to the Electricity Act threshold which dictates whether planning authorities or Scottish Ministers determine applications for energy generating developments.

Proposals not being implemented

We are not taking forward the following proposals at this time:

• setting of planning fees locally. The majority of respondents did not support the potential for authorities to set their own fees. They did not consider it beneficial due to the inconsistency for applicants, the potential for competition between authorities and the administrative burden on authorities for setting fees and dealing with enquiries and complaints. We will not take this proposal forward, favouring an inflationary increase along with increased discretionary powers for authorities.
• introduction of discretionary fees for developments which are on sites which are not allocated for development with the Local Development Plan. The aim of this proposal was to encourage a plan led system and reflect that authorities have greater costs in determining proposals which have not been subject to consultation through the development plan process. Stakeholders raised concerns over the complexity of administering this proposal as not all application types are allocated and there would need to be very clear circumstances for charging. In line with stakeholder views, we will not take this proposal forward, recognising that the potential additional source of income is likely to be outweighed by the complexity of administering.
• introducing a voluntary contribution to planning authorities where they are consulted by Scottish Ministers on an application for offshore wind development. The aim of this proposal was to seek views on extending the current practice whereby Scottish Ministers provide a voluntary contribution to relevant planning authorities for their consideration of onshore applications. The responses to this question were mixed and further clarification was sought on a number of issues such as who would provide the contribution, what level the contribution should be, if other statutory consultees (under Environmental Impact Assessment regulations) would be provided similar contributions and how the fee would be distributed (as in most instances more than one planning authority is consulted for offshore applications). We are continuing to work with Heads of Planning Scotland and other stakeholders to clarify consultation arrangements for applications for offshore wind.

Tags: Investing in Planning consultation

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