Report: Scotland needs to measure planning meaningfully

A robust framework by which the effectiveness of Scottish planning system can be measured should be introduced, a report from the national spending watchdog urges today.

The report from Audit Scotland, Modernising the Planning System, urges that while the time taken to make decisions on planning applications is an important measure of how a planning system is operating, it is insufficient in measuring the quality of the system.

The report states: "Many aspects of development management are not currently monitored, assessed or reported, for example pre-application activities, community engagement and the local appeals process."

It continues: "Performance should be assessed across a broader range of measures that gives a more comprehensive view of how the planning system is performing."

The Scottish planning system was reformed in 2006 with the intention of making it more efficient, more encouraging of development, easier to understand and more inclusive of communities. The Audit Scotland report aims to assess the extent to which this has happened.

The Royal Town Planning Institute’s national director for Scotland, Craig McClaren, agreed that a "more comprehensive measurement framework" is required.

He said: "Speed of decision can be important, but there is a need to take a more holistic view of performance." He added that the RTPI supports work currently being undertaken by membership body Heads of Planning Scotland and the Scottish government that takes into consideration a wider range of factors, such as stakeholder engagement and the quality of development.

The report also showed that the speed of decision making on small applications has remained largely constant throughout the changes to the Scottish planning system. In 2004/5, 63 per cent of small applications where decided within two months, compared to 65 per cent in 2009/10, the report says.

However, the report says that the amount of time it takes to decide large applications has increased over the same period. In 2004/5 52 per cent of large applications were decided within four months, compared to 38 per cent in 2009/10.

The report says that a great deal has been achieved in modernising the Scottish system, but adds that there is still a great deal to be done before the new system is up and running.

The new system in Scotland requires all 34 planning authorities – comprising 32 local authorities and two national parks – to produce local development plans (LDPs) for their areas every five years.

It also divides 19 authorities into four city regions, which are then required to produce strategic development plans (SDPs) every five years covering matters that require cross-boundary collaboration, such as housing and transport.

Authorities have only been able to prepare SDPs and LDPs since the end of 2008.

However, the report says that almost two thirds of authorities have delayed the dates by which time they expect to submit plans to the Scottish government for inspection, and shows that 56 per cent have pushed back their submission dates within the last year.

The report also notes that the differential between the money councils earn through planning fees and the cost of processing applications has increased significantly, rising from £6.7 million in 2004/5 to £20.8 million in 2009/10.

Modernising the planning system can be read here.

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