This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Planning leaves room for improvement
15/07/2004
Most Scottish councils are not meeting planning
performance targets and need to speed up their decision
making processes to retain the confidence of the
public.
Minister for Communities Margaret Curran said the
results of the
2003 Sixth Annual Report of the Planning Audit
Unit showed that while some planning authorities had
improved their performance over the past year, others were
failing to meet Executive targets. Improvement is vital,
she said, if businesses and communities are to have faith
in the planning service.
Only three local authorities achieved the target of
deciding on 80 per cent of applications within two months.
They are Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire and West
Lothian.
Margaret Curran said:
"I want to see a first class planning system which
provides individuals, communities and businesses with
confidence and stability.
"I'm pleased that some local authorities have improved
their performance since last year, and it is encouraging to
see that several councils exceed our targets, despite an
overall rise in applications of around three per cent.
"But these improvements need to be maintained over time.
Local authority planning offices play a vital role in the
delivery of the planning service - that's why some councils
need to improve their performance dramatically and rise to
the challenge to match the best.
"At the same time, relevant development plans must be at
the core of our system, but many are more than ten years
old. That is why we are currently consulting on improving
the process to they are kept up to date.
"I remain convinced that as we modernise and improve
Scotland's planning system, local authorities need to meet
their targets to benefit the people of Scotland."
The Planning Audit Unit report can be found at
www.scotland.gov.uk/planning
It contains figures showing local authority performance
for development control, development planning, listed
building consents and telecommunications applications. The
Audit further shows how many residential and business
applications each council handled.
The Audit also includes performance figures for the
Scottish Executive's planning division. These show that 84
per cent of cases notified to Scottish Ministers were
decided within two months, exceeding the target of 80 per
cent, while the amount of casework has increased by more
than 50 per cent since 1997.
The Planning Audit Unit was set up within the Scottish
Executive Development Department to work with local
authorities, looking at their practices and providing
advice on their planning services. This is the 6th report
covering the period October 2002 to September 2003.
The consultation on development plans,
Making Development Plans Deliver, runs until 31 July,
2004.