Parliament Workbench
Data: Official Report to 12 Nov 2026

Official Report · Committee

New Petitions

Conservation Areas (Local Authority Funding) (PE2063)

Wednesday 20 March 2024 Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee About 11:15 Petitions 12 contributions · 6 speakers

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The record

12 contributions
David Torrance SNP The Deputy Convener · Kirkcaldy
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Our first new petition is PE2063, which is on increased funding for local authorities to enable better management and protection of conservation areas. The petition, which was lodged by David Walsh of Park Preservation Patrons, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide additional funding to all local authorities in Scotland, enabling them to better manage and protect the character and appearance of designated conservation areas.

Paul Sweeney has remained with us for the consideration of this new petition.

The petitioner notes that historic conservation areas throughout Scotland are falling into disrepair, and although he recognises the financial challenges facing both national and local government, he requests that the Scottish Government addresses a specific concern regarding funding for conservation areas.

The Scottish Parliament information centre briefing provides information on the planning process that applies to conservation areas, while noting that the responsibility for upkeep of land and buildings within conservation areas rests with the owners.

The Scottish Government refers in its response to the local government settlement and the policy of allowing local authorities financial freedom to allocate the resources that are available to them. The response goes on to note the support and guidance that are available via Historic Environment Scotland to help promote and protect the historic environment.

Before I go to the committee for recommendations, I ask Paul Sweeney whether he would like to make a statement.

Paul Sweeney Lab Glasgow
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Thank you, convener. It is a pleasure to address the members of the committee on this petition. I have been in correspondence with the petitioner over the past few months about issues around enhancement to the Park conservation area in the west end of Glasgow, which speaks to a broader issue around improving the guidance and regulations on conservation areas and the obligations on local authorities.

The petitioner’s particular idea was to reinstate heritage-style lampposts and make various other improvements to the area but there was not, in their view, sufficient support or capacity to help them to achieve their objectives. Similarly, there are concerns that roads authorities and other utilities can scar historic streetscapes, remove street furniture that is of a historic nature and undertake similar interventions without any statutory enforcement or oversight.

11:15

In light of some of the flaws in the current legislation as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 and some of its adjacent legislation, such as the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, there is an opportunity for the committee to consider inviting stakeholders to feed in on the issue, and to establish whether there are reasonable grounds for improvements to the current legislation or indeed supplementary guidance. Certainly, in my interactions with stakeholders, there have been concerns that the regulations on conservation areas are not sufficiently robust and that there is significant opportunity to establish best practice, or at least to communicate where best practice is being achieved to other parts of the country.

To that end, I suggest that perhaps Historic Environment Scotland, the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, Save Britain’s Heritage, the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust and the Glasgow City Heritage Trust might be reasonable stakeholders to approach in the first instance to invite to feed in to the exercise and perhaps allow us to establish whether there are opportunities for further improvements to the current legislation. I should declare an interest, as a trustee of Glasgow City Heritage Trust.

That would be a worthwhile way for the committee to move the petition forward.

David Torrance SNP The Deputy Convener · Kirkcaldy
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Thank you. Do members have any suggestions for actions?

Fergus Ewing SNP Inverness and Nairn
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I am grateful to Mr Sweeney for giving a bit more colour, information and detail on what is behind the petition. However, the petition simply calls for additional funding to be provided. It does not say how much or what for, which is perhaps a bit unfortunate, because it is lacking in focus, I think.

Be that as it may, the response that we have had from Glasgow City Council is that it does not have the money for this. Frankly, that does not particularly surprise me, given the pressures that local authorities are facing. That seems to be the reality of the situation.

Given that and the lack of specificity, I propose that we close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that it is the responsibility of local authorities to manage their budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on management and protection of conservation areas, and also that responsibility for upkeep of land or buildings in a conservation area rests with the owners.

Foysol Choudhury Lab Lothian
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As highlighted in the SPICe briefing, the Scottish Government has not taken any significant recent action on additional funding for the maintenance or enhancement of conservation areas. Can we ask the Scottish Government if it has any plans to release additional funding?

Maurice Golden Con North East Scotland
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I support Mr Ewing’s suggestion of closing the petition. It might be helpful for the petitioner, if they so wish, to look at coming back in due course with a more focused petition on the better management and protection of conservation areas. Even if the Scottish Government was to increase funding for local authorities, there is no requirement on said local authority to focus that on the better management and protection of conservation areas. It is unfortunate for the committee and the petitioner, but I feel that closing the petition is the only thing that we can do under these circumstances.

Oliver Mundell Con Dumfriesshire
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I agree, and I think that we would get a better quality of response if the petition came back in a different form. The reality is that, if we were to contact organisations or local authorities on the current premise, we would move into what would be quite a political space around funding rather than something constructive. From my limited experience of the committee, it works best when there is a defined goal or something that is achievable at the end of the petition.

David Torrance SNP The Deputy Convener · Kirkcaldy
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Mr Choudhury, are you willing to go with the rest of the committee’s recommendations?

Foysol Choudhury Lab Lothian
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If the majority is in favour of closing, yes. However, I still think that, since the Scottish Government has not done anything at all on this, we should write to ask whether it has any plans.

David Torrance SNP The Deputy Convener · Kirkcaldy
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If you are not willing to withdraw, I will have to go to a vote, Mr Choudhury.

David Torrance SNP The Deputy Convener · Kirkcaldy
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I have just been told by the clerk that we can close the petition but also write to the Scottish Government to ask about additional funding. If members agree with that, I am more than happy to go with it. Are we agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

In this meeting

Everything on 20 Mar 2024 →
  1. 09:30 Decision on Taking Business in Private Procedure · 1
  2. 09:30 Continued Petitions Petitions · 67
  3. 10:45 Continued Petitions Petitions · 10
  4. 10:45 Continued Petitions Petitions · 3
  5. 10:45 Continued Petitions Petitions · 6
  6. 10:45 Continued Petitions Petitions · 3
  7. 10:45 Continued Petitions Petitions · 3
  8. 10:45 Continued Petitions Petitions · 8
  9. 10:45 Continued Petitions Petitions · 6
  10. 10:45 New Petitions Petitions · 1
  11. 11:15 New Petitions Petitions · 12
  12. 11:15 New Petitions Petitions · 6
  13. 11:30 New Petitions Petitions · 5
  14. 11:30 New Petitions Petitions · 5

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