The Town and Country Planning (National Planning Framework and Local Development Plan Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 - Impact Assessments

Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)

Title of policy, strategy or programme

The Town and Country Planning (National Planning Framework and Local Development Plan Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024

Impact assessment process

1 – Understand your objective

The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 inserts a new section 12 which introduces sections 3CC and 20AA into the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to introduce powers to amend both the National Planning Framework and local development plans.

The proposed regulations will set out further detailed provisions around procedures for amending such plans. The regulations follow on from the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and are procedural in nature.

These regulations will not make changes or have any impact on existing policy or framework specifically, as preparation and full review procedures will remain. These regulations will set out the process for bringing forward amendments in future, and such changes would require appropriate consideration of their impacts.

2 – Assess impact on islands

The proposals will provide for maximum flexibility for all authorities, offering flexibility for local circumstances including the islands and island communities.

The potential to amend new place-based local development plans will enable tailoring specific to island circumstances / local communities and this is likely to have benefits for island communities in terms of increased flexibility to tailor plans to respond to local circumstances.

We do not envisage that the provisions proposed will have significant, or different effects on island communities.

3 – Consultation

Previous consultation and engagement on the Planning Bill included an island proofing exercise undertaken through a collaborative workshop, held on 29 September 2017. It informed the Island Communities Impact Assessment, which was updated following Stage 2 of the Planning (Scotland) Bill. That assessment indicated the main theme from discussions was the need to allow flexibility for the islands – acknowledging that their needs were very different to that of towns and cities.

In preparation and development of NPF4, The Scottish Government conducted two rounds of consultation.

An NPF4: Call for Ideas was undertaken over Spring 2020. This was followed by consultation on an NPF4: Position Statement over Winter 2020 / Spring 2021. Accompanying these two documents was an NPF4: Integrated Impact Assessment which provided the evidence base for societal impacts, including potential impacts on island communities.

Additionally, desk top analysis was undertaken of the evidence gathered for the development of the Planning Bill, including the equality impact assessment and ICIA, plus the integrated impact assessment accompanying the early engagement on NPF4. Additional information was drawn from Rural Planning Policy to 2050: Research to Inform Preparation of NPF4.

A Draft ICIA was consulted upon for the LDP Regulations and Guidance, views were sought on the potential impacts on Island communities through the consultation and the responses informed the final ICIA.

A public consultation on the proposals for the Amendment Regulations will also be conducted, allowing communities and representatives across all of Scotland to voice their views on the proposals.

4 – Assessment

We consider that the implementation of amendment regulations for NPF and LDPs is procedural in nature, and therefore will not have a significantly different effect on island communities.

As such, we believe that any impacts are adequately addressed through previous ICIAs and do not believe that a full ICIA is required for these regulations.