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CONSULTATION LETTER

Planning Directorate
E-Planning, Planning Policy and North Division

MODERNISING THE PLANNING SYSTEM:
CONSULTATION ON DRAFT REGULATIONS ON THE PLANNING HIERARCHY

Responding to this consultation paper

We are inviting written responses to this consultation paper by Friday 21 March 2008. Please send your response to:

hierarchydefinition@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

or

If you have any queries on the content of the consultation paper or the consultation process, please contact www.april.workman@scotland.gsi.gov.uk on 0131 244 7543. Please indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

In Planning Directorate we are changing our methods of distribution, with electronic publication for all our publications, subject to only a very small list of exceptions which will also be published in hard copy, such as the National Planning Framework. In addition, we are creating an improved e-newsletter system which will provide an effective way of alerting you to new e-publications, including consultations. To register for electronic newsletters about planning, please register your details at www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/planning as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government also has an email alert system for all consultations (SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations. SEconsult complements the new planning e-publications system described above and allows you to register for consultations on specific topic areas across the Government. Please follow the SEconsult link above if you wish to register.

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form which forms part of this consultation paper as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Publishing responses

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public (see the attached Respondent Information Form), these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government Library within 6 weeks of the close of the consultation and on the SEconsult web pages within 6 weeks of the close of the consultation. Where agreement to publish has been given, we will check all responses for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the Scottish Government Library on 0131 244 4552. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

What happens next?

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us reach a decision on the draft regulations or order. Final regulations and orders will require to be laid in Parliament. Further details on the timing of this process will be available through the Modernising Planning page on the Scottish Government's Planning Homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/planning.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to april.workman@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or on 0131 244 7543.

RESPONDENT INFORMATION FORM: DRAFT REGULATIONS ON THE PLANNING HIERARCHY

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES QUESTIONNAIRE

This Equal Opportunities Questionnaire is requested in order that the Scottish Government can build an accurate picture of the make-up and diversity of the people and groups that our planning policies impact on, and to ensure that the way in which we carry out our consultations is inclusive and not unwittingly discriminatory. If you have responded to this consultation as an individual it would be helpful if you could complete the form. This information is only used for this purpose.

If you have a disability that requires us to make a reasonable adjustment to enable you to complete this form, please notify us.

THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION PROCESS

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of the Scottish Government's working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Government, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Government consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

The Scottish Government encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors and no two exercises are likely to be the same.

Typically Scottish Government consultations involve a consultation paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Consultation papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the issue, electronically or in hard copy and are placed on the Scottish Government's consultations webpage ¹ to allow for participation from a wider audience. Consultation exercises may also involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as through public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises. Copies of all the written responses received to a consultation exercise (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Government library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565).

All Scottish Government consultation papers and related publications (eg, analysis of response reports) can be accessed at: SEconsult ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations).

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review
• inform the development of a particular policy
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of other factors, including other available information and research evidence.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.

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