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08:
Supporting Planning Authorities
A Framework
for Improving Delivery in the Planning System
Making the changes we propose work will require the
commitment of a large number of organisations - central and
local government, public agencies and bodies, developers,
business organisations, voluntary bodies, community
councils and other interests. At the heart of the system,
however, are the planning authorities, on whom the
principal responsibilities lie for the preparation and
adoption of development plans, the processing of
applications and the enforcement of planning controls.
The purpose of the reforms is to effect the
modernisation of the planning system. Modernisation will,
rightly, raise the expectations of those using the system
that they will see real and tangible improvements in the
outcomes that it generates. It will not be enough merely to
change the legal and administrative provisions - there must
also be a change in the way in which planning authorities
and others perform, so that these expectations can be met.
Our goal is to ensure that the system operates without
unnecessary delay, and that the quality of decisions
improves. This will require planning authorities to take on
the responsibility for implementing the new framework with
vigour.
To help them achieve this, there needs to be a new
framework of reporting, monitoring, evaluation and support.
This will ensure that the expectations on the planning
system are explicit, performance against those expectations
is publicly assessed, and steps to improve performance can
be put in place where they are needed.
Prerequisites for this are clear, ambitious but
achievable performance targets, based on measures that
genuinely reflect a planning authority's performance. The
targets which planning authorities are currently expected
to meet, are set out in
Scottish Planning Policy 1: The Planning System (
SPP1). All of these targets will,
however, need to be reviewed to take account of the changes
to the development management system. The Executive will
work with planning authorities and other interested parties
on a revised set of targets, to apply at the point that the
new hierarchy of applications is implemented.
It is the responsibility of Ministers and the Scottish
Executive to oversee the effective functioning of the
planning system. It is our intention to review the targets
applying to appeals dealt with by
SEIRU in tandem with the introduction of
planning reforms, so that the time limits for each category
of appeal casework are reduced progressively. Over the past
few years, the Executive has collected data on the
performance of planning authorities against those targets
and published an Annual Report detailing those results. In
addition to the collection and publication of performance
data,
SEDD has conducted a series of audits of
planning departments. These audits aim to:
- review the statistics on planning authority
performance and understand more precisely the
underlying reasons for performance;
- identify and evaluate contrasting approaches to
plan preparation; and
- identify best practice in development control and
development planning.
The Executive believes that both of these functions -
providing information on performance, and auditing - should
be continued and enhanced as part of the monitoring and
evaluation framework. This is to ensure that performance
can be analysed on a common national basis, that good
practice can be identified and promoted across Scotland and
that areas of poor performance can be targeted.
Ministers believe that the planning system merits a
structured and specialist programme of audit, building on
the experience and expertise established by
SEDD's existing audit programme. It is
our intention to place the current planning audit function
on a statutory footing, providing a clear process for
making and following up recommendations to planning
authorities. This step will ensure a transparent and
structured approach to the evaluation of the performance of
planning authorities, and should help identify how to
spread good practice as widely as possible. Local
authorities are already placed under a duty to provide Best
Value in exercise of their functions, including planning,
through the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. It will
be necessary to ensure that the
SEDD's programme is compatible with work
undertaken by the Accounts Commission on Best Value audits
and more generally on reporting local government
performance.
Concern has been expressed that there are no safeguards
against patterns of decision-making that are not compatible
with a development plan-led approach. The Bill will
therefore seek to allow, either through proposed audit
powers or through a separate power, Ministers to commission
an investigation into cases where there is a persistent
pattern of decisions that do not comply with development
plan policies, or with officer recommendations based on
such policies. This will also provide an additional
protection against arbitrary decision-making that ignores
both professional judgement and the views of local
people.
Other powers will be required to support and complement
the information provisions and audit functions. Ministers
already have powers to request information from planning
authorities in respect of their development control
functions. Given that a new focus will fall on the
preparation of development plans, we intend to extend this
power to cover the exercise of all planning functions. The
Planning Bill will also continue existing Ministerial
powers of direction and intervention in respect of
development plans, and again, in the interests of
consistency, will extend these to apply to all planning
functions. These are, however, powers of last resort. We
would expect that where there has been a serious and
persistent difficulty in raising the performance against
national standards, we would first attempt to work in
partnership with the relevant authority to address the
cause of the problem.
Supporting Performance -Partnerships for
Change
Partnership is the real key to achieving a step change
in the performance of the planning system - between all
those involved in planning process, and in particular
between the Executive and planning authorities. Our
modernisation agenda is substantial and its introduction
will place considerable strains on the planning system.
Research commissioned by the Executive has already
identified a number of factors which make the operation of
the current system difficult - such as difficulties in
recruitment and retention, skills shortages and a lack of
priority given to planning in some local authorities. We
intend to work with authorities to tackle these issues, and
anticipate that authorities themselves will respond to the
need to give due weight to their planning function.
One area where work has already started is in addressing
the skills shortage. The 2004 Spending Review allocated
£2.25 million spread over financial years 2005/06 to
2007/08 to support performance improvement initiatives in
planning. This Planning Development Budget (
PDB) is designed primarily to help
planning authorities address training needs and skills gaps
that are hindering them in the effective delivery of their
planning functions. It will also target measures to support
and encourage better engagement between planners and local
people; and in improving planners' awareness and
understanding of the needs of businesses. The programme of
measures funded by the
PDB is being developed in partnership
with a wide range of interests, including local
authorities, the Local Government Improvement Service,
planning schools, the Royal Town Planning Institute for
Scotland, public agencies and the users of the service -
developers, environmental groups and community
representatives. The
PDB will play an important part in
delivering a more effective, responsive planning
system.
Types of learning to be supported by the
PDB will be flexible and tailored to
meet specific needs and circumstances. Options include
classroom courses, workshops, seminars, conferences and
distance-learning packages. We are considering topics for
training and these are likely to include design,
development economics, effective enforcement, management
and environmental assessment.
To support and encourage better engagement between
planners and local people we intend to examine the scope
for introducing a mediation pilot project. The aim of this
project will be to ascertain whether formal mediation can
be applied effectively to the planning system and to
evaluate its potential impacts and costs. We also propose
to commission research to identify the extent to which
local authority planning departments understand and respond
to the needs of businesses. This study will lead to
recommendations as to how this relationship could be
improved further.
We will need to develop robust criteria by which to
evaluate the impact of the
PDB. We are considering evaluation and
monitoring options to assess the impact of the
PDB and demonstrate what has been
achieved.
Another partnership initiative is a joint bid, involving
the Executive and all local authorities, for funding from
the Efficient Government Fund. This bid is for funds to
support the design and roll-out of a common, integrated
e-planning system for planning authorities and some public
bodies across Scotland. The aim is to provide a speedier,
more accessible and more efficient option for both planning
applications and development planning. It could extend to
include: a central service that allows planning application
forms to be completed online; fee calculation and payment;
electronic submission of associated documents; integration
of forms and fee payment with planning authority
back-office systems; development of online casework
tracking systems and online access to planning
applications, appeals and development plans; and an online
consultation system in partnership with national agencies.
This bid has now passed the first stage, allowing the
partners to access funds to help develop a comprehensive
business case and we will continue to work closely with
planning authorities to progress this.
There is no doubt that the challenge planning
authorities and the Executive face in implementing these
reforms is very demanding. Public expectation will,
rightly, be high. The new system should provide a more
efficient, inclusive and transparent service which leads to
better outcomes - a higher quality of development where it
is needed, and the appropriate protection of our heritage
and environment. Achieving these outcomes will require a
skilled, committed and well-supported planning service
across Scotland. An enhanced performance monitoring and
evaluation framework will provide the basis for
improvement, and a shared approach to overcoming the
obstacles will secure its realisation.
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