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3. PROCESSING AGREEMENTS

Prioritising major developments

3.1 The Scottish Government wants to ensure that the planning system responds in a more proportionate way to the proposals that come before it. The new hierarchy ² for planning aims to direct resources to where they can add most value and particularly to give applications for national and major developments appropriate priority in the system.

3.2 Currently the statutory periods for determining planning applications is 2 months or, where EIA development is involved, 4 months. This applies regardless of the scale and complexity of the proposal. It is recognised that frequently these timescales are not met, leading to uncertainty about the process among applicants and communities.

Processing agreements

3.3 The White Paper introduced the concept of processing agreements. These would be used for national and major developments and would allow the applicant and planning authority to agree on the approach and a realistic timetable for the planning application to be determined, taking into account the views of statutory consultees, and to set this out in a 'processing agreement'.

3.4 Processing agreements can be used as a project management tool for handling applications for national and major developments. They can be used to improve communication between the planning authority and the applicant, and can set out what information in required to process the application. It is for the planning authority and the applicant to agree the scope and content of the processing agreement. Regulations cannot require an agreement to be reached, so processing agreements will be on a voluntary basis, although the expectation is that planning authorities should provide the opportunity and facilitate arrangements for processing agreements to be reached wherever it is practical to do so.

3.5 It is recognised that the take-up and success of processing agreements will largely be dependent upon best practice and parties being willing to work together in a co-operative, open manner and that there is an element of culture change involved for this type of approach to work.

3.6 The existence of such an 'agreement' does not mean the outcome of the planning application will be approval. The agreement can provide for certainty on the procedures and timings to be used in the handling of the application but proposals with processing agreements will continue to be subject to rigorous assessment and scrutiny procedures.

Reaching an agreement on processing

3.7 Processing agreements are likely to be of most benefit where there has been early discussion between the applicant, the planning authority and, as appropriate, statutory consultees, allowing issues to be identified and addressed from the start and determining the best approach for dealing with the proposal. For example, this might identify that a masterplan or design brief would be beneficial, that additional studies needed to be commissioned or that the proposal should progress directly to the application stage. Identifying these issues through pre-application discussions will help to front-load the planning system so that efficiency savings may be made later in the process.

3.8 Ideally, processing agreements should, therefore, be in place before the application is submitted. If this has not happened and if, after 28 days following validation of the application, no agreement has been reached, we propose that the timescale for determining the application would default to the statutory requirements. For national and major developments, we are proposing that this timescale should be 4 months (see Part 10 below on time periods for decisions).

Q12: Do you support the view that processing agreements should be in place before submission of the application?

Q13: Do you agree that where there is to be a processing agreement that it should be entered into not later than 28 days after validation?

Scope of agreement

3.9 Processing agreements, under the terms of regulation 27, can cover applications for planning permission and any resultant consent, agreement or approval required by a condition imposed on a grant of planning permission for national or major developments. Where appropriate, parties may also wish to include in the agreement other types of consent, for example, Conservation Area Consent or Listed Building Consent, to provide a comprehensive approach for dealing with the application(s). It will be up to the parties involved to agree the approach to any processing agreement.

3.10 Applications for planning permission in principle and the subsequent application for approval of matters specified in conditions ( see Part 4) could be dealt with either as milestones in a single processing agreement or as separately negotiated processing agreements. We propose that a holistic approach should be followed and that processing agreements should cover all stages required to take an application from pre-application consultation through to submission, processing and determination and, where applicable, the discharge of any conditions, the signing of a section 75 agreement and potential for notification of the application to Scottish Ministers. The elements for inclusion in the processing agreement should be discussed at the outset.

Content of processing agreements

3.11 The Scottish Government expects processing agreements to be as clear and simple as possible, and the parties may decide who drafts the agreement. In providing for processing agreements the intention is not to create an additional layer of bureaucracy associated with lengthy discussions and exchanges. It is not the intention, therefore, to prescribe in detail the form and content of such agreements. The key objective is to establish a realistic timescale for processing which takes account of the amount of information which needs to be considered to determine the application and sets clear milestones. Suggested components of a processing agreement are set out below:

• Roles and responsibilities - The agreement should set out the roles and responsibilities of all the parties, including the planning authority, applicant and statutory consultees, in delivering the determination to schedule.
• Information requirements - Parties should agree in advance, taking into account comments from statutory consultees, what additional information beyond the validation requirements is needed to determine the application. This information may be listed in the agreement to offer applicants certainty about what they need to provide and aid efficient processing by the planning authority.
• Decision-making framework - The agreement should set out the management process and forum for decision-making. This could involve a project team which can agree direction and sign off completed tasks, as well as related working groups or task groups.
• Key milestones - A project plan should be included setting out the overall timetable for handling the application and the key milestones within it. This would incorporate the views of statutory consultees and provide the basis for monitoring progress.
• Timescales - Where the parties agree that the proposal will take longer than the statutory period to determine they should agree to extend the period after which an appeal may be made to Scottish Ministers against non-determination of the application, in accordance with section 47(2) of the 1997 Act and record that in the agreement. It will not be possible to appeal against non-determination in advance of that agreed timescale.

3.12 We do not intend to prescribe in regulations time periods which parties should set in processing agreements. This will depend upon the circumstances in each case, taking into account statutory periods for consultation, neighbour notification etc.

3.13 Review stages may be built into the project plan. If unforeseen issues arise during the project management of the proposal and it becomes evident that the processing agreement's original timescale is unlikely to be met, it should be at the discretion of the parties to re-appraise the situation. Where parties can reach agreement on an amended timescale the processing agreement may be amended. Where no agreement can be reached the applicant could appeal against non-determination after the originally agreed timescale.

3.14 A suggested template to guide parties in preparing processing agreements is provided at Annex A.

Q14: Do you agree with the suggested components of a processing agreement?

Public availability of the processing agreement

3.15 We propose that, in the interests of transparency, the processing agreement should be placed on Part I of the planning register, and be made available online in line with the move towards e-planning (see Schedule 4).

Committing to the processing agreement

3.16 The planning authority and applicant should sign the processing agreement. It is anticipated that Councils would include in their schemes of delegation provisions to give officials delegated authority to sign the processing agreement ³.

3.17 To reinforce parties' commitment to the processing agreement, the White Paper proposed linking non-compliance with the terms of a processing agreement with the return of planning application fees, where the planning authority was found to have acted unreasonably. Change in regulations to reflect this type of fees return proposal will be considered through the review of the Fees Regulations, which will be consulted upon in 2008. Positive approaches towards processing agreements by the parties involved are likely to result in more collaborative, open and transparent working relationships which can lead to better quality decisions and developments on the ground.

Q15: Do you agree that the sole parties signing the processing agreement should be the planning authority and the applicant, or do you think there is scope for statutory consultees to also sign the agreement?

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