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2. Planning authorities submit a Statement of Planning Applications Determined twice a year to the Scottish Executive; this is referred to as the Planning Statistics Return. A number of concerns were expressed on this:
3. The authorities felt that the advice on completing the Planning Statistics Returns needed to be clearer on what planning authorities should take as the start of the 2 month period for determining planning applications. It was also felt that the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Scotland) Order 1992 (the GDPO) should be more precise about what constituted a valid planning application. The Group agreed that the 2 month period should commence on receipt of a valid application. So, if an application is submitted on say Monday but is not adjudged as valid by the planning authority until Thursday the 2 month period should still begin on Monday. If, however, the application was considered on Thursday to be invalid, the 2 month period would not commence until the information required to validate the application had been received.
4. The Group was also of the view that the date on which a decision notice was issued should be used in calculating the time taken to determine planning applications. Authorities should aim to have consents signed and issued on the same day. The date on the consent should be the same as the date of postage. This should be clarified in the guidance on completing the Planning Statistics Return and addressed in a future revision of the GDPO.
5. It was suggested that a number of planning authorities "stop the clock" when progress in determining a planning application is hindered by factors outwith their control, for example when an applicant fails to provide information necessary to enable the authority to reach a decision. There is no legislative provision for this practice and this needs to be made clear to planning authorities.
6. It was felt that clear guidance was required as to how the 2 month period was to be measured. For the purpose of their indicators the Accounts Commission has recently defined months as:
"Months are to be measured as being from a specific day in one month until the day with preceding date in the following or subsequent months (eg 5 April-4 May; 23 June-22 August; 9 December-8 March). Thus, if a valid application is registered on 23 June and is decided by 22 August it counts as being dealt with within '1 month to 2 months'. However, if it is not decided until 23 August, it counts as being dealt with 'within 2 months to 3 months'."
This approach should be reflected in the guidance on completing the Planning Statistics Return although some representatives on the Group felt that the timescale should be measured in days.
7. At present planning authorities do not have the power to withdraw applications; the decision to withdraw an application rests with the applicant. Planning authorities have developed a range of practices to enable them to withdraw applications on which there has been a sustained failure to make progress, usually when applicants or their agents have failed to respond to repeated requests for information. For example, an authority might write saying that it will treat an application as withdrawn if it has not heard from the applicant/agent within a specified time. While applications can be refused due to lack of information local authority representatives on the Working Group did not feel that this was satisfactory and were apprehensive about the outcome of appeals in these circumstances. They argued that authorities should be given powers to withdraw applications in specified circumstances and some felt that penalties for developers, who withdraw major applications at a late stage in the process to avoid a refusal of planning permission, should be introduced. The Group concluded that local authorities should be given powers to withdraw applications.
8. The Group noted that the Returns were not comprehensive and information on some important elements in the development control service is not sought, for example the use of interdicts and Section 187 Notices in enforcement cases. The Group concluded that the content, presentation and frequency of the returns should be the subject of a comprehensive review by central government in association with local authority interests.
9. Some of the local authority representatives in the Group felt that spot checks should be carried out to ensure that returns are accurately completed. The revision of the forms suggested in para 9 above should achieve greater consistency among authorities.
10. The decision of the Accounts Commission to adjust their performance indicators from 8 weeks to 2 months was welcomed. This ties in with the statutory period for determining planning applications and means that local authorities do not have to make separate calculations on a slightly different timescale for the Scottish Executive and the Accounts Commission on the same subject. The local authority representatives on the Working Group would prefer to move towards a single return to the Accounts Commission and the Scottish Executive on development control performance. Nevertheless the Group accepts that what is submitted to the Commission forms part of a corporate package of performance indicators for individual authorities and that Scottish Executive information requirements are more frequent and detailed.
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