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Partnership for Scotland set out the principles now guiding the Scottish Executive. One of these is a firm commitment to work in partnership with local government.
The work of the Planning Audit Unit has shown how central and local government can work together to good effect. With the full co-operation of Councils, the Audit Unit has carried out a series of development control audits and has brought local experience together in the working groups that have recently reported on performance targets and conservation controls. I wholeheartedly encourage this kind of joint working, and I want to see us make the most of opportunities for constructive dialogue - with users of the planning service as well as those who provide it.
Cutting out unnecessary planning delays is a clear and longstanding objective. It applies not just to the time taken to reach decisions on applications. Up to date structure and local plans are vital to deliver sustainable development and inform consistent decision making; but they take too long to prepare and approve. If quality and value are to be added by land use planning, as I believe they can be, good management, efficient procedures and speedy responses are required.
I am pleased to see a general improvement in development control performance. In some Councils there have been large performance gains and I recognise the commitment this has required from managers, professional, technical and clerical staff working as a team. But variations between local authorities are still too great. For a variety of reasons, some Councils have been unable to make any real progress in the short term towards the Government's performance targets. However I know that in some of them work is in hand to improve the service and I hope this will soon bear fruit.
I would emphasise that I do not see efficiency as an alternative to improving standards of development on the ground. They are, in fact, dual goals. Providing a high quality service requires clear and transparent procedures, efficient working practices and ensuring that development adds to our quality of environment. We must look at the way planning works in the round as well as tackling the management of each aspect of the system.
I commend this report to all local authorities. It contains a great deal of useful advice and I hope Councils can use it to deliver further improvements in the development control service they provide.
Sarah Boyack MSP
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