Effective community engagement in local development planning: guidance

3. Preparing a local development plan

A local development plan sets out how places will change into the future, identifying where and what development should and should not happen. The National Planning Framework and the local development plan together make up the ‘statutory development plan’ which forms the basis for all decisions on planning applications.

Planning authorities are required by law to prepare a local development plan for their area. Local development planning guidance provides more information on what a local development plan is, what should be in it, and how it is prepared. It also includes some information about local place plans. This guidance can be read as a further part of the local development planning guidance. Section 16C of the Planning Act, allows this guidance to be prepared. Section 16C also means planning authorities must have regard to (consider) the guidance when making the local development plan.

Planning authorities will make the final decision on what is included in the local development plan. If there are any remaining disagreements from the consultation stage when the planning authority has finalised its Proposed Plan, it will be independently examined. An independent reporter, appointed by the Scottish Ministers, will make recommendations to the planning authority on how to resolve any outstanding issues.

Views vary in any planning consultation, and it is unlikely that everyone will be satisfied with the outcome. Planning authorities should be clear about this and should liaise with other services, particularly where issues are raised that lie beyond the scope of the local development plan, in line with the Place Principle.

There are three overall stages in making a local development plan:

• gathering evidence
• preparing the plan
• delivery.

Communities will have most influence on the local development plan at the stages where the engagement levels are consult, involve, collaborate, or empower, but it is also important to keep people informed at the relevant stages. The legislation also requires planning authorities to give feedback to people on how their input has affected the approach taken.

Figure 2 and Table 1 identify the key stages in the preparation of a local development plan and the associated anticipated level of engagement. This can be summarised as follows:

• The evidence gathering stage is about informing people about the process, involving, and collaborating with them. Communities are empowered to make local place plans, setting out their proposals for their area, to be taken into account in the local development plan as it is being made.
• The Plan Preparation stage is about informing, involving, and collaborating with participants in preparing the spatial strategy and policy approach. Formal consultation is also required by the planning legislation to provide people with an opportunity to give feedback on the Proposed Plan.
• The delivery stage is about informing people about the finalised local development plan approach and collaborating with people to take forward identified actions in the Delivery Programme. Beyond the local development plan, people are also consulted on decision making for individual planning applications.

Infographic description below:

The levels of engagement for the Evidence Gathering stage in Local development plan preparation are:

• Inform
• Consult
• Involve
• Collaborate
• Empower

The levels of engagement for the Plan Preparation stage are:

• Inform
• Consult
• Involve
• Collaborate

The levels of engagement for the Delivery stage are:

• Inform
• Collaborate
• Empower

Impact Assessments

The purpose of impact assessments is to inform and support the preparation of the plan. This guidance does not replicate requirements of legislation or associated guidance. Impact assessments are done as the local development plan is being made. This way the impact assessments inform the plan and can evolve as the plan takes shape.

Screening should be undertaken by planning authorities at an early stage to identify which impact assessments need to be done. Not all impact assessments are always required, and some are not mandatory for planning authorities.

One such impact assessment is the Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA). The CRWIA is an assessment process, tool, and report through which the potential impacts of any proposed decision, including the development of policies, projects, programmes, or services, have on children’s rights and wellbeing. This allows for these to be identified, analysed, and recorded.

A CRWIA asks a range of questions to encourage and guide thinking around potential impacts. This includes questions around impacts on specific groups of children, potential positive and potential negative impacts, and how children have been engaged to obtain their views and inform decisions made.

Following commencement of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 which came into force in July 2024, CRWIAs became a legal requirement for Scottish Ministers, Scottish Government and Executive Agencies.

While not mandatory for other public authorities, such as planning authorities, Scottish Government encourages use of CRWIAs as a good practice approach on a non-legislative basis for public bodies and the voluntary sector. This is done by making available example CRWIA guidance and templates. This is further supported by:

• non-statutory guidance on Taking a children's human rights approach
• statutory guidance on Part 2 of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024
• statutory guidance on Part 3 of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024.

Screening can help everyone involved to understand how they should be consulted or can get involved in the impact assessments. Consultation and engagement in relevant impact assessments, from an early stage of the plan making process, can help to ensure relevant information is available to inform decision making.

The relationship of impact assessments to the local development plan process, including the CRWIA, is reflected in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5 within the Stages that follow in section 4. Planning authorities should take into account the engagement needs and timing for key impact assessments required to support Local Development Plans and build a process to meet the needs of their organisation.

Planning authorities will need to consider the impact assessments to be undertaken, including whether a Consumer Duty Assessment is required. They may decide to undertake other assessments not covered in this guidance, such as a Health Inequalities Impact Assessment, which could also provide evidence for the other impact assessments. Impact assessments are a chance to inform, involve and collaborate with people and organisations to improve outcomes.

The key impact assessments, engagement needs, timing and feedback requirements are summarised below for each assessment.

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

• Inform, consult, and involve.
• There may be opportunities to involve people at both the evidence gathering and Proposed Plan stages.
• The assessment requires authorities to explain the evidence gathering and stakeholder engagement, including any consultation held with stakeholders or other ways stakeholders were involved - including children, young people and the organisations that have been used to gather evidence from them.
• Publication informs people of the outcome of the assessment and how the evidence has informed decision making and influenced the plan.

Equality Impact Assessment

• Consult and involve.
• Early involvement will assist the assessment process.
• Consultation alongside the Proposed Plan can help identify impacts, which will need to be further considered in relation to potential modifications to the Proposed Plan.
• The assessment is legally required to be published in a way which accessible to the public, and this informs people of the assessment findings.

Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment

• Inform and involve.
• Early involvement will assist the assessment process.
• It is important to involve relevant communities through the stages of assessment. This means accessing the views of those with lived experience of poverty on how a plan may affect them.

• Named public bodies are required to actively consider how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage, when making strategic decisions.

• It is best practice to publish the Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment to inform people about how socio-economic disadvantage is being considered.

Habitats Regulations Appraisal

• Inform.
• All ‘competent authorities’ must consider whether a project or plan could have a significant effect on a European site before it can be authorised to be carried out.
• There is no requirement for public engagement or to publish a Habitats Regulation Appraisal however it is good practice to make available publicly the findings of any assessment at the Proposed Plan stage, to inform people of the appraisal process.

Island Communities Impact Assessment

• Inform, consult, and involve
• Early involvement and consultation of people will assist the assessment process
• Required for any new policy, strategy, or service, when the impact on island communities is likely to be significantly different from its effect on other communities.
• The planning authority is legally required to publish the assessment to inform people of the outcome of the assessment.

Public Sector Equality Duty Assessment

• Inform and involve
• It is useful to set out the timing of the publication of the assessment in the Development Plan Scheme
• Public authorities are required to have due regard in the exercise of their functions to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation; to advance equality of opportunity; and to foster good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
• Proportionate involvement is needed throughout the process, from the early preparation stage to its delivery
• The planning authority should publish the assessment findings on their website to inform stakeholders. Legally the results should be published within a reasonable period, and guidance suggests this should be as soon as possible after the decision to implement (adopt) the policy is taken.

Strategic Environmental Assessment

• Inform and consult
• There is a legal requirement for ‘early and effective’ public engagement. This focuses on the Proposed Plan and Environmental Report consultation, but earlier engagement is often undertaken as a matter of good practice
• Incorporating Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEA) at an early stage can enhance an LDP’s environmental performance by considering reasonable alternatives and evaluating their impacts on biodiversity and climate factors
• A Post Adoption Statement is prepared, published, and advertised to inform people about how the assessment findings and comments received on the Proposed Plan and Environmental Report have been taken into account.