Sunday 15 May 2011

GROS and National Archives of Scotland merge

From 1 April 2011, the General Register Office for Scotland merged with the National Archives of Scotland to become the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The GROS website will remain active until it is replaced in due course by a new website for NRS

Could something similar happen in Scotland?

There is growing criticism of what is being regarded as the British Government's 'cash for permissions' measure.

RTPI president Richard Summers is quoted in an item from the latest 'Planning' daily e newsletter as saying:

"Ministers said very clearly barely twelve weeks ago that the New Homes Bonus would not be used to influence the granting of planning permission for development that would not normally be accepted.

"We are appalled to find now that the Government is trying to introduce such a fundamental and potentially damaging change to the planning system without any consultation at such a late stage in the passage of the Localism Bill.

Planning explains that these comments were in response to an amendment :

unveiled yesterday, which would change Section 70 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (determination of applications for planning permission: general considerations). Section 70 details the grounds on which a planning application should be considered by local planning authorities, and the amendment adds a new consideration to make "any local finance considerations" material to an application.

The amendment was introduced following concern that the Government’s flagship New Homes Bonus policy, which aims to incentivise the building of new houses for local authorities, would be open to legal challenges if town halls made planning decisions based on financial incentives.

Could something similar happen in Scotland, with local authorities being asked to make development viability a material consideration? Could cash incentives be offered to Local Authorities?

For more information on Scottish Policy see here and here