Whether there is any requirement for it to take the advice of Historic Scotland in respect of the demolition of listed buildings.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 requires planning authorities to notify to Scottish ministers applications for consent for the demolition of any category of listed building which they are minded to approve. This is to afford ministers the opportunity to call in applications which they judge to merit further consideration and, in due course, determination by them rather than the relevant planning authority.
As an agency of the Scottish Executive, Historic Scotland is directly responsible to Scottish ministers for operational matters affecting the built heritage in Scotland. Applications which the act requires to be notified to ministers are in practice sent by planning authorities to Historic Scotland.
When dealing with proposals for demolition, Historic Scotland considers each application against Government policy on the subject, as set out in the Memorandum of Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas, the document to which all planning authorities are directed by Scottish Office Development Department Circular No.13/1998 in their consideration of applications for listed building consent. If a proposal appears to conflict with that policy Historic Scotland may advise Scottish Ministers to call in the case for their own determination. The decision on whether or not to call in the application rests with ministers and will be taken with the benefit of the advice offered by Historic Scotland. If a case is called in, the recommendation made by the independent Inquiry Reporter is considered by the Scottish Executive planning divisions, who then offer advice to the Deputy Minister for Communities who makes the decision on whether consent should be granted.