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07:
Financial Impacts
As with any reform package,
this set of proposals will generate costs and savings. An
effective, efficient planning system which is more
proportionate in its focus should have a highly beneficial
impact on the wider economy. Developments contributing to
the national infrastructure will be planned proactively,
taking a long-term view, and thereby increasing certainty
for all stakeholders. Applications for major developments,
helping to deliver sustainable economic growth, will be
expedited by planning authorities. Fee scales will be set
to take into account the costs to the local authorities of
handling major applications. Fewer small-scale developments
such as home improvements will be subject to development
management scrutiny, allowing a saving on resources
currently expended on the processing of these applications,
and creating time for professional planning officers to
focus on more substantial applications. The precise impact
of these changes on the national economy will always be
difficult to quantify. The Executive will, however, monitor
the impact of planning reform, including its economic
consequences.
There will be impacts on resources for central and local
government. In particular, we anticipate changes to the way
in which planning authorities operate, and we will be
discussing the financial impacts of the new system with
local authorities.
Local Authorities
The reforms that we consider likely to generate most
efficiency gains, releasing resources for planning
authorities to use to deliver other improvements, will
be:
- the extension of permitted development rights, and
consequent removal of a number of applications for
minor development from the planning system;
- raising the level of fees payable to local
authorities for major applications to reflect the cost
of processing them more closely;
- removal of the need for two tiers of development
plan across most of Scotland, reducing the number of
strategic development plans from 17 to 4;
- speeding up plan preparation by replacing the
current two stages of draft and finalised plans with
one proposed plan; and requiring the preparation of
shorter and more focused local development plans that
are fit-for-purpose;
- using model development plan policies and preparing
supplementary guidance for certain topics to speed up
further plan preparation;
- agreeing the principle for development on land
allocated in a local development plan, simplifying the
development management process, and creating time for
local authorities to focus on the design quality of
development proposals; and
- replacing the appeal to the Scottish Ministers with
a decision review process so that planning authorities
can rely on existing reports rather than preparing
fresh precognitions.
There will also be some new costs generated for planning
authorities:
- in fulfilling the statutory requirement to update
development plans to a shorter and more regular
timescale, and requiring more regular development plan
examinations;
- in undertaking neighbour notification for planning
applications, and for new site specific proposals in
local development plans;
- in operating the new system of appeal tribunals
where decisions have been taken at an officer level;
and
- in more pro-active use of enforcement powers.
Scottish Executive
There will also be implications for central Government
resources, both for the Scottish Executive Development
Department (
SEDD) and for the Scottish Executive
Inquiry Reporters Unit (
SEIRU).
The reforms that will generate most efficiency gains and
additional savings for the Scottish Executive will be:
- the introduction of appeal tribunals to hear
appeals on a range of local developments, rather than
SEIRU;
- the removal of a tier of development plans
(structure plans) in all but the four city regions (
SEDD currently has a role in
processing their approval by Ministers);
- the early determination of a range of appeals
(savings for
SEIRU in hearing fewer appeals, but
costs for
SEDD in doing the assessment
work);
The reforms that will generate most new costs will
be:
- an increase in the number of cases notified to, and
possibly subsequently called-in by, Ministers as a
result of changes to the process, in particular for
national developments, major developments and those
applications attracting enhanced scrutiny;
- the assessment work with regard to the early
determination of the merits of appeals: an increase in
costs for
SEDD (but, as noted above, reduced
costs for
SEIRU in hearing fewer
appeals);
- more frequent updating of local development plans,
requiring reporters to conduct examinations;
- the mandatory requirement for the examination of
strategic development plans in the four city regions,
to be jointly funded by the Authority and
SEDD;
- an enhanced audit function for
SEDD to monitor planning authority
performance;
- generation and monitoring of model policies by
SEDD;
- a role for reporters in assessing the quality of
stakeholder engagement by planning authorities, in both
development planning and development management;
and
- enhanced role and status of the National Planning
Framework.
In the longer term, the introduction of new 'e-planning'
procedures will help planning authorities, applicants,
consultees and other interested parties move from
time-consuming paper based systems to more efficient
electronic working. Online access to planning information
and services reduces the cost of people engaging with the
planning system. In the longer term, prudent use of
information and communications technology will reduce costs
for planning authorities by improving business processes
and speeding up the processing of planning
applications.
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