What it is doing to ensure that planning services work as efficiently as possible to foster economic growth, in light of reported delays to…

We have implemented extensive reforms to streamline and improve the planning system to support our economy and give greater certainty to developers and investors. Our reforms include removing certain applications from the system, increasing capacity to focus on applications where most value can be added; extending the review cycle of Local Development Plans to allow planning authorities to focus on delivery; and appointing Scotland’s first National Planning Improvement Champion to work with all those involved to support improvement within the service.
We recognise there is scope to improve on current planning timescales with the most recent annual data for the 2022-23 period showing that the average timescale for major developments is 39.5 weeks, and local (non householder) development is 14.4 weeks. It is important to note that there can be many reasons for delays in determining applications, including requests for and submission of additional information, delays with responses from consultees and the requirement for a legal agreement. However, constructive and collaborative working between applicants and authorities means that consistently over 93% of applications are approved annually.
Our current consultation "Investing in Planning
- a consultation on resourcing Scotland's planning system" aims to further support improvement in the delivery of planning services, including streamlining the assessments required to support applications, project managing applications, improving engagement and taking a proactive approach to development and consenting.