National Planning Framework 4: integrated impact assessment post adoption statement

7. Monitoring

7.1.1 Section 19 of the 2005 Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act requires the Responsible Authority to monitor significant environmental impacts arising as a result of the implementation of a plan, programme or strategy. The purpose of any monitoring arrangement is to identify any unforeseen adverse effects at an early stage and to enable appropriate remedial action to be taken.

7.1.2 The first iteration of the NPF4 Delivery Programme, published November 2022, sets out our approach for implementing NPF4, including delivery mechanisms, governance, funding and monitoring. The Delivery Programme identifies a range of priority actions, delivery partners and anticipated timescales.

7.1.3 The Scottish Government has committed to working with a range of stakeholders to develop an appropriate monitoring programme for NPF4 that allows us to assess progress and take action where required. It will be important to monitor all three elements of NPF4 – the spatial strategy, national developments and national planning policy. Given the breadth of issues addressed by NPF4 and the multidisciplinary nature of delivery, it will be important to ensure that the activity required at both a national and local level is proportionate and effective. Arrangements for monitoring will also need to complement, and potentially combine, wider planning performance work including Planning Performance Frameworks and could be informed by Royal Town Planning Institute's (RTPI) work on monitoring outcomes, as well as reflecting national outcomes set out in the National Performance Framework.

7.2. Spatial Strategy

7.2.1 It will be important to monitor long-term change. Given the significant lead-in time for development projects, trends may not emerge for some time. In the interest of proportionality, it is proposed that the monitoring approach will reflect and read-across to relevant data that is already gathered and reported on in relation to the National Outcomes set out in the National Performance Framework.

7.3. National Developments

7.3.1 The Planning, Infrastructure and Place Advisory Group will provide an influential forum for discussing and sharing good practice and issues arising from implementing National Developments. To inform this we will build and maintain consistent monitoring information for each of the National Developments over time.

7.4. National Planning Policies

7.4.1 At a national level monitoring will initially focus on reviewing appeal decisions and reflecting on the progress of new Local Development Plans in the system. In the interest of proportionality, we propose to monitor NPF4 policies that introduce significant change and represent the strategic aims of the document as a whole. Further detail on potential indicator policies is set out in the delivery programme^[38].