National Planning Framework 4: delivery programme - third update

D. Collaboration

Positive, cross-sector collaboration is needed to unlock investment and support the delivery of the high quality development that we need; where and when we need it. Implementation of NPF4 policies and national developments is by default collaborative. We rely on the skills, experience and commitment of all those within the planning and development sector to play their role and to facilitate and share good practice and learning.

We are proactively working with stakeholders across the planning sector, including public bodies, business and industry representatives and communities, to support implementation of NPF4.

This collaborative approach also requires the focusing of efforts across the Scottish Government to ensure alignment across national plans and programmes. This alignment will be an iterative process, building over time, and the actions included in this update to the Delivery Programme will contribute to progressing this. Work on new LDPs is also emerging which will put the spatial strategy and policies into practice in different local contexts across Scotland. Increased cooperation between the Scottish and UK Governments at Ministerial and official level on shared priorities can support resolution of barriers to delivery.

We will continue to support a number of governance tools which have a particularly important role in creating the conditions for collaborative delivery of NPF4, including engagement and close working through:

• The Applicant Stakeholder Group;
• Heads of Planning Scotland;
• The High Level Group on Planning Performance;
• The Key Agencies Group;
• The National Planning Improvement Champion; and
• The Planning, Infrastructure and Place Advisory Group (PIPAG).

Applicant Stakeholder Group

The Applicant Stakeholder Group was established in February 2023 to provide an applicant perspective to the High Level Group on Planning Performance. The group meets quarterly and identifies their top priority issue to take to the High Level Group for discussion. In the past year this has included the declaration of the housing emergency, resourcing of the planning system and timescales for determining applications which are subject to a legal agreement. The latter included meeting with HoPS and the Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators to discuss potential improvement ideas.

Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS)

We meet with HOPS regularly, across divisional workstreams and priorities. This includes participation in the Development Management, Development Planning, Performance and Practice and Climate Change, Energy and Resources subcommittees, and regular meetings between the Chief Planner and HOPS Chair. These channels facilitate identification of possible barriers and solutions to delivery of NPF4.

The Development Planning subcommittee is focused on preparation of the first round of LDP Evidence Reports. Priorities include improving access to the required data and assessing the implications of feedback to the first Evidence Reports submitted to Gate Check.

The Development Management subcommittee’s priorities over the next year include continuing to engage with, and providing feedback to, the Scottish Government on NPF4 policies and permitted development rights (and associated prior notification requirements). It also intends to work on the promotion and rollout of the biodiversity planning metric.

The Performance and Practice Subcommittee is focusing on the implementation of the National Planning Improvement Framework, sharing good practice and engaging with Scottish Government on issues affecting the resourcing of the planning system, including planning fees, recruitment and skills.

The work of the Climate Change, Energy and Resources subcommittee is a priority area for NPF4 delivery. It supports learning on new technologies, for example battery energy storage, shares innovative work and good practice, and works with the Scottish Government, providing feedback on implementation of relevant NPF4 policies.

A Scotwind working group has also been established under the Climate Change, Energy & Resources subcommittee, in conjunction with Scottish Government. The purpose of the group is to share information about the planning and delivery of onshore infrastructure linked to the expansion of offshore wind. The group includes representatives from the local authority planning departments most affected by the deployment of offshore wind, and will meet three times a year.

We will work with HOPS to:

• Roll out standard templates for Section 75 Planning Obligations.
• Produce a standard working template for common planning conditions, bringing consistency and predictability to the post consent process.
• Identify scope for improvement of cross council working to better align consents (outwith regulatory change). And,
• Input to the short life working group on proportionality in planning applications.

High Level Group on Planning Performance

The High Level Group on Planning Performance is jointly chaired by the Minister for Public Finance and the COSLA Spokesperson for Environment and Economy, and meets on a quarterly basis. The group has a key role in overseeing the performance of the planning system, improving consistency and identifying areas for improvement. Group priorities for the coming year include driving forward the actions identified through the Investing in Planning consultation, increasing the financial resources available to planning authorities and streamlining processes to ensure efficiency.

Key Agencies Group

The Key Agencies Group (KAG) has representation from across a range of public bodies which have a statutory role in development planning and development management processes. The Key Agencies have an influential role to play in helping to achieve our ambitions for a planning system which is more responsive and which offers more certainty, and KAG focuses on supporting delivery through improved joint working.

The Key Agency Chief Executives meet regularly with the Minister for Public Finance to discuss current priorities with regard to delivery of NPF4. Recent meetings have focused on Key Agency involvement in LDP Evidence Reports, resourcing and the role of Key Agencies in accelerating delivery.

KAG has provided a Collaborative LDP Offer and is working with five planning authorities: Dundee, Fife, Highland and Midlothian Councils, and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. Workshops have supported services and agencies to discuss strategic and local matters, alongside using data and mapping to undertake joint analysis of evidence. This will help to inform later work on LDP spatial strategies and place briefs at the proposed plan stage.

National Planning Improvement Champion

Scotland’s first National Planning Improvement Champion was appointed in September 2023 to support continual improvement within the planning system. The Champion post is embedded within the Improvement Service and is funded by the Scottish Government.

The National Planning Improvement Champion aims to ensure that:

• The planning system enables the delivery of sustainable, liveable and productive places.
• Planning services are equipped to work effectively and efficiently, embedding continuous improvement. And,
• Users are able to engage constructively with the planning system and planning service.

The Champion is piloting a new approach to monitoring performance of the system with the introduction of the National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF). The NPIF was developed in collaboration with stakeholders from a range of planning perspectives, interests and sectors. Guidance to support planning authorities with completing the NPIF process was published in April 2024. NPIF is a shift from the old system of performance assessment: Instead of a process focused on self-assessment followed by marking by the Scottish Government, the new approach is focused on planning authority self-assessment and constructive challenge by peers. The National Planning Improvement Champion team will also play a ‘critical friend’ role, providing constructive advice and testing assumptions.

The NPIF will be tested over the course of 2024/25 by three different cohorts of planning authorities. The second cohort is now underway, and all planning authorities are expected to be involved at some stage in these pilots to allow for feedback, adaptation and to ensure preparedness.

Planning, Infrastructure and Place Advisory Group

The Scottish Government has established PIPAG in collaboration with the Scottish Futures Trust. Meetings have been held quarterly. In 2024 the group’s strategic objectives have been:

• Identifying and promoting innovation and best practice, strategic input to the development of the next infrastructure investment plan, and overcoming barriers to development and infrastructure delivery and gaps in funding and finance.
• Advice on integration of place-based and spatial thinking into public and private sector decision-making. And,
• Prioritisation and targeting of investment to optimise outcomes and achieve place-based transformational change.

Focusing on these objectives enabled the group to develop a full work programme for 2024, which includes:

• An in depth look at Winchburgh infrastructure delivery solutions and challenges.
• Presentations and discussions on town centre regeneration and low carbon energy systems.
• Discussions about the infrastructure required to support major development in rural areas (housing, services, access etc).
• Presentations and discussions on making vacant and derelict land a more viable investment proposition. And,
• End of year review and the production of an Annual Report.

To date, the achievements of the group are as follows:

• Reports produced on each of the case studies and learning events, which champion good practice and make recommendations for more widely applicable solutions to explore.
• A short life working group has looked in detail at issues of funding and finance, producing a final paper which shares good practice on the approach to financial guarantees. And,
• Ad hoc meetings and papers have been prepared on issues arising from meetings including rural housing and the importance of quality data in infrastructure investment decisions.

The PIPAG reference group, including key agencies and infrastructure providers, has been informed of progress and consulted on the production of reports. The secretariat is considering how the wider group’s expertise could be used to support NPF4 delivery objectives in the year ahead.