Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods - planning guidance: final impact assessment report update

Business & Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA)Report Update

Title of Proposal

Scottish Government Planning Guidance: Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods

Purpose and Intended Effect

Background

The fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), adopted by the Scottish Ministers on 13th February 2023, contains policy on local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods. NPF4 forms part of the statutory development plan.

The concept of local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods is intended to support places where people can meet the majority of their daily needs within a reasonable distance of their home, preferably through active travel modes or by public transport.

The Scottish Government Planning Guidance: Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods aims to support the implementation of the existing policy framework within NPF4. The preparation of NPF4 involved extensive consultation and parliamentary scrutiny as well as the development of a comprehensive Integrated Impact assessment. A full BRIA was undertaken for NPF4 and this covered the policy framework, including content on local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods (Policy 15).

This impact assessment report update supports the development of the final guidance document and has been finalised following consultation on the draft guidance that ran from April – July 2023.

Summary conclusion

This update report relates to the final publication of the Scottish Government Planning Guidance: Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods, and not to new policy content. The guidance does not introduce any additional policy requirements or duties that have not been introduced as part of the implementation of NPF4.

The guidance is intended to provide further detail to support the implementation of the policy, with a focus on informing development planning and development management processes. It is aimed at assisting and supporting planning authorities, communities, businesses, and others who have key roles in helping to deliver local living.

The finalised NPF4 BRIA considered that overall, costs involved in delivering NPF4 are outweighed by the strong justification for proceeding with the intended approach, in particular the contributions to national outcomes.A public consultation on the Local living and 20 minute neighbourhood: Draft Planning Guidance ran between 27 April and 20 July 2023. Issues raised do not alter the conclusion of the BRIA. The guidance places no additional requirements or burden on planning authorities, communities or business in relation to NPF Policy 15 and will have no material impact on the assessment and conclusions of the NPF4 BRIA.

Objective

Guidance to support NPF4 Policy 15, Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods, has been developed to support interpretation and implementation of NPF4. The guidance sets out details on the benefits, key characteristics, and delivery approaches to support local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods.

Rationale for Government intervention

NPF4 Policy 15, Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods, is a new policy and although it is aligned with previous policy on placemaking, there is a role for guidance to provide more details to support implementation of the policy.

Consultation

Within Government

The NPF4 IIA sets out the wide ranging approach to government consultation in preparation of NPF4. Officials from Scottish Government’s Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division have discussed the guidance document with officials in Climate Change, Transport Scotland, Rural Communities, Land Use Strategy, Housing, Retail policy, and Health.

Public Consultation - Call for Ideas

Between January and April 2020 the Scottish Government held an open call for ideas to hear views on what Scotland should be like in 2050 and the changes needed to get there. Some of the main themes that emerged from the call for ideas included NPF4 as an opportunity to refocus planning on place, by applying approaches including the 20 minute neighbourhood concept, town centre renewal and a stronger emphasis on reusing vacant and derelict land and buildings to achieve multiple benefits for health and wellbeing, as well as climate change.

Position Statement

A Position Statement was published in November 2020. This reflected on the information received through the call for ideas engagement programme. The Position Statement confirmed expectations for NPF4, which included development that reduces the need to travel, in line with the concept of 20 minute neighbourhoods.

Draft NPF4

Draft NPF4 was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 10 November 2021 for Parliamentary scrutiny. Alongside Parliament’s consideration of the draft NPF4, the Scottish Government invited comments from all stakeholders. The public consultation was launched on 10 November 2021 and closed on 31 March 2022. One of the six principles of the spatial strategy set out in the draft NPF4 was:

• Local living
  We will create networks of 20 minute neighbourhoods to support local liveability, reduce the need to travel unsustainably, promote and facilitate walking and cycling, improve access to services, decentralise energy networks and build local circular economies

• Business
  As part of the development of NPF4, background information on the BRIA and a questionnaire was sent to around 33 key stakeholders from across Scotland, including key business and industry representatives. Additionally, the RTPI held a range of consultation events on behalf of the Scottish Government including a business roundtable. Further meetings took place during the consultation period with key groups where business and regulatory issues were discussed. This included meeting with the housing industry’s representative body as well as rural economy and community representatives

Consultation on draft guidance

A public consultation on the Local living and 20 minute neighbourhood: Draft Planning Guidance ran between 27 April and 20 July 2023. Issues raised include:

• several respondents disagreed with the assertion in the BRIA that the guidance “places no additional requirements on planning authorities” it was felt that implementing the guidance could have considerable resource implications, particularly in relation to the structured approach and the implications of applying placemaking principles at scale

Options

This section looks at each of the measures and the options explored.

Option 1: Do nothing

The National Planning Framework 4 Delivery Programme sets out the approach for implementing NPF4 and includes key actions to be taken forward over the short and medium term. The delivery programme contains a commitment to developing guidance on local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods following the laying of NPF4, and finalisation of guidance in 2024. Failure to deliver this guidance will impact negatively on stakeholder expectations and compromise the effective implementation of NPF4.

Option 2: Preferred option - Developing guidance

Under this option guidance will support the effective implementation of the policy intent and outcomes on local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods within NPF4. This will strengthen the ability for policy to be correctly interpreted and applied and is an important element in delivering the ambitions of NPF4 and the associated impacts assessed as part of the IIA.

Sectors and groups affected

Businesses

NPF4 is a strategic document, and its policies are likely to impact on all business sectors across Scotland who are likely, in the future, to engage with the planning system through the submission of a planning application or commenting on applications that affect them. It may also influence businesses’ decision-making on what they do with their land.

Planning authorities

Planning authorities are affected in that they are required to take account of NPF4 in preparing their Local Development Plan (LDP). Previously, those plans would include planning policies specific to the development plan area. However, the introduction through NPF4 of national planning policies that apply across Scotland is intended to reduce the need for local policies, while still leaving scope for local variation in policies where appropriate. This will free up time and resources for local authorities to focus on spatial elements in their development plans, although not all respondents to the NPF4 or the draft local living and 20 minute neighbourhood guidance consultations agreed with this.

The consultation refers to the ‘Structured approach’ within the draft guidance as something that may require additional resource in implementation. The structured approach sets out ‘key steps’ that are recommended as a good practice approach, rather than a prescribed method, for the delivery of local living. The information noted within the 'Structured approach’ is gathered as part of the LDP process and the evidence report that forms the foundations of the LDP, it’s quality and effectiveness.

Planning authorities also have a range of new and existing duties to engage with their communities, extending throughout the preparation of the local development plan. The Local Development Planning Guidance details the process and legislative requirements, including expectations around engagement to inform the evidence report, with a step-by-step guide and evidence tables prepared for each policy area, including local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods.

New engagement requirements stem from legislative changes that were intended to strengthen local development plans, reducing the time spent on producing plans and giving them a greater focus on place and delivery.

Communities

NPF4 will impact on communities as it will influence the future development of the places where people live. In addition, those community bodies which are preparing local place plans will be required to have regard to the NPF in preparing such plans.

Further information on the sectors and groups affected by NPF4 policy is contained within the full NPF4 BRIA.

Costs and Benefits

Option 1: Do nothing

This would require planning authorities and communities to interpret the policy framework for local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods with the high level information contained in NPF4. Although this may provide some local flexibility, it would lack consistency in application. There is an expectation through the published delivery programme that guidance will support NPF4 policy implementation.

Option 2: Preferred option - Developing guidance

Developing guidance will support consistency in implementation of the policy across Scotland. This will allow businesses to have increased certainty on the expectations on them in aligning with policy, helping to deliver efficient processes and a level playing field across planning authority areas. Guidance will support planning authorities to undertake consistent, thorough and robust processes in plan development and also support consistency in decision-making processes.

Assessments

The full BRIA for NPF4 involved a Competition Assessment, a Consumer Assessment, Test run of business forms, a Digital Impact Test and a Legal Aid Impact Test. None of these assessments indicated adverse impacts.

• Intra-UK Trade - The guidance is not likely to have an impact on intra-UK trade
• EU Alignment - This guidance is unlikely to impact on the Scottish Government’s policy to maintain alignment with the EU

Summary and recommendation

The Scottish Government Planning Guidance: Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods aims to support the implementation of the existing policy framework within NPF4. The preparation of NPF4 involved extensive consultation and parliamentary scrutiny as well as the development of a comprehensive Integrated Impact assessment, including a full BRIA.

The finalised BRIA considered that overall, costs involved in delivering NPF4 are outweighed by the strong justification for proceeding with the intended approach, in particular the contributions to national outcomes.

A public consultation on the Local living and 20 minute neighbourhood: Draft Planning Guidance ran between 27 April and 20 July 2023. Issues raised do not alter the conclusion of the BRIA. The guidance places no additional requirements or burden on planning authorities, communities or business in relation to NPF Policy 15 and will have no material impact on the assessment and conclusions of the full BRIA.

Declaration and Publication

Partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

I have read the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment and I am satisfied that, given the available evidence, it represents a reasonable view of the likely costs, benefits and impact of the leading options. I am satisfied that business impact has been assessed with the support of businesses in Scotland.

Sign and Date:

Signed:

Date: 5^th April 2024

Minister’s Name: Joe Fitzpatrick MSP

Minister’s title: Minister for Local Government, Empowerment and Planning

Scottish Government Contact Point: Ashley Mullen, Planning Architecture and Regeneration Division