1. The Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporters Unit (SEIRU), formerly the Scottish Office Inquiry Reporters Unit (SOIRU), is part of the Scottish Executive Development Department. It handles planning and related appeals that are lodged with the Scottish Ministers, and is responsible for organising public local inquiries that take place into planning proposals and related matters. The Unit also supplies Reporters to conduct local plan inquiries for planning authorities, and deals with a variety of non-planning cases including compulsory purchase orders and some harbours, fisheries, and pollution cases.
2. The Unit is based in an office at Greenside Lane, Edinburgh, separate from the main building of the Scottish Executive at Victoria Quay, Leith. The professional input to the Unit's work is provided by a group of full time salaried Inquiry Reporters, supplemented by a further group of part time fee paid consultant Reporters. Both groups of Reporters work from home. The part-time Reporters are used to accommodate peaks in the appeal cases workload, and for most local plan inquiries.
3. The vast majority of the cases handled by the Unit are planning and related appeals. Responsibility for the decision in nearly all of these cases is delegated to the individual Reporter. Over 90% of these cases are considered on the basis of written submissions from the parties, and a site inspection. The remainder proceed to public local inquiry. In either event, the resulting appeal determination takes the form of a decision letter, written by the Reporter, which explains how the decision has been reached.
4. In a small number of appeal cases, responsibility for the decision is not delegated to the Reporter, but remains with the Scottish Ministers. In these cases, a public local inquiry usually takes place. The Reporter then prepares a report, containing a recommendation for the decision, which is considered by Ministers. There are also non-appeal cases - notably called in planning applications and proposals for developments by various statutory organisations - where the Unit organises a public local inquiry at the request of a client division within the Scottish Executive, planning authority, or other organisation. This category of work includes infrastructure developments such as transport and energy projects, and some types of pollution cases. In all of these cases, the Reporter produces a report, with recommendation, for consideration by the client division or organisation.
5. There are three key objectives that underlie the Unit's business:
6. A Citizens Charter Statement has been prepared which sets out the Unit's objectives, and performance targets for the efficient delivery of the various services. Some of these targets have been tightened since the Statement was published (see appendix, Table C1). The Statement also describes the procedure where there is dissatisfaction with any part of the service. These objectives and performance targets are reflected in the divisional management plan, which forms part of the departmental management plan. The intended level of service for the delivery of local plan reports is described in the Local Plan Service Standards Statement published by the Unit.
7. The purposes of this third annual review of the Unit's work are to:-