Planning Performance Framework - Annual report 2022/23

Contents

1. [toc]
2. Introduction
3. Description of our service
   1. Organisational structure
4. Performance markers
   1. Placemaking
      1. Strategic planning activity
      2. Development Plan engagement
      3. Development Management
   2. Capacity-building
      1. Sharing good practice, skills and knowledge
      2. Evidence and data-sharing
   3. Service
      1. Decision-making timescales
      2. Joint-working arrangements
      3. Engagement with service users
5. Progress on this year's improvement priorities
6. Service aims and priorities for 2023/24
7. Appendix: Consultation Statistics

Introduction

This is a report to the Scottish Government on our performance within the Planning System during the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. It reports against a series of performance markers covering different elements of our engagement in the Planning System and identifies priorities for improvement during the next reporting period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. It follows a template agreed with the other Key Agencies and the Scottish Government.

Description of our service

Our planning service includes advice and associated guidance and capacity-building. It supports implementation of National Planning Framework 3 (NPF3) and accords with Scottish Planning Policy and the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice and the current Programme for Government. It helps deliver the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, and the transition to a net zero carbon economy that is fair for all. The service has a vital part to play in Scotland’s ongoing ’green recovery’ from the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring a resilient nature-rich future.

Our Planning for Development service statement Planning for Great Places outlines our approach and the support that stakeholders can expect from us. It emphasises the connection between people, development and nature, and the importance of achieving the right development in the right place to make Scotland the best place to live, work, visit and do business. It focuses our efforts on:

• upstream engagement in the Planning System; 
• working together with business interests; and 
• providing clear, early advice that is alert to other interests and provides certainty for investment. 

In summary, we:

• influence national strategic development policies and plans and associated Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA);
• input to regional and local spatial plans as an active partner in Development and Marine Planning, place briefs, master plans and action programmes;
• publish guidance and standing advice to help developers assess and minimise impacts on nature;
• provide pre-application advice to developers, and advice to decision-makers focused on matters of potential national interest;
• inform post consent monitoring at a strategic and project level to advance understanding of the impact of development on nature;
• build greater capacity amongst developers and planning authorities to identify nature-based solutions and make sustainable use of our natural assets.

Together with other public bodies and agencies we have embedded the Place Principle in the way we work, to help overcome organisational and sectoral boundaries, and encourage better collaboration and community involvement. The application of our balancing duties helps to make sure we consider wider social and economic interests when discharging our responsibilities for nature, and that we are helping to shape Scotland as an inclusive, fair, prosperous and innovative country.

The service delivers benefits that contributed to all four of the outcomes in our corporate plan A Nature Rich Future for All, around which our work has been based up to the end of March 2023:

1. More people across Scotland are enjoying and benefiting from nature.
2. The health and resilience of Scotland’s nature is improved.
3. There is more investment in Scotland’s natural capital and its management to improve prosperity and wellbeing.
4. We have transformed how we work.

2022/23 was another challenging year with the continued impact of the Covid pandemic on staff wellbeing and availability, and on our ways of working. Despite the difficult circumstances we have again been able to provide a comprehensive service that has contributed across all the priorities set out in our Business Plan 2022/23.

Organisational structure

The strategic direction of our engagement in the Planning System is provided by our Board and Senior Leadership Team. The service is delivered by Activity and Area teams. Our 'Supporting Good Development' Activity coordinates our work within the Planning System. It leads onshore development advice, our input to development planning, working with Industry and strategic planning. To support this, our 'People & Places' Activity provided advice onplacemaking, green infrastructure and engagement with community planning; and our 'Sustainable Coasts and Seas' Activity led marine planning and development advice. Local delivery of the service across the country was through five National Operations Teams (North, Central Highland, West, West Central and South). 

Performance markers

Placemaking

Strategic planning activity

We contributed to strategic planning through our advice on a range of policies and plans, associated SEA and the development of plans for projects that are part of NPF3. Our contribution in 2022/23 included:

• responding to Scottish Government’s consultation over the draft fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4); 
• helping to further develop an approach to securing Positive Effects for Biodiversity through the planning system as a member of the Scottish Government NPF4 working group;
• liaison with other agencies and Scottish Government via the Key Agency Group (KAG) and its sub-groups including the green recovery/placemaking group and the High Level / Heads of Planning Scotland (HoPS) group, several areas of work are emerging from these for 2023/24;
• advising on 244 SEA consultations, from pre-screening to Environmental Reports (See Appendix, Table 1 for details), covering a wide range of policies and plans.

Development Plan engagement

Engagement throughout 2022/23 was lower than all preceding years we have reported for, reflecting the effects of change in the planning system. In addition to providing advice on those Local Development Plans (LDPs) still progressing through the old system, we also worked with planning authorities and our fellow Key Agencies to prepare for the new approach to development planning. 

Appendix Table 1 shows the number of statutory and non-statutory consultations we responded to with respect to Main Issues Reports and proposed Local Development Plans in 2022/23. We responded to total of 29 MIR/LDP consultations and enquiries.

Development Management

We provided advice on 476 planning application consultations (excluding ‘no comment’ responses). We advised developers, local authorities and agencies on the impact of development proposals on nature, including advice on mitigation. This has enabled the delivery of development priorities across a range of industrial sectors including housing, renewable energy, manufacturing, transport, marine development, fish farming and telecommunications. We also provided advice and support to the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) as a member of the DPEA Stakeholders Group.

Pre-application engagement

Our early pre-application engagement aimed to support a more efficient Planning System. It allowed issues to be identified early in the development and planning process, and afforded time to try and resolve issues ahead of applications being submitted. We responded to 202 pre-application consultations, often in collaboration with other key agencies. This is a similar number to that in the previous three years. Examples of pre-application engagement in 2022/23 include:

• continued support for the Scottish and UK Government initiatives to expand digital connectivity, including the roll out of the Emergency Services Network, Shared Rural Network and Scottish 4G Infill Programme;
• initiating a collaborative approach to identifying potential impacts of a proposed new family-friendly bike park at Cairngorm Mountain ski area on the adjacent European sites, and in developing evidence-based and proportionate mitigation to avoid adverse effects;
• providing advice for Transport Scotland’s A83 Access to Argyll & Bute project.

The success of our pre-application engagement and advice to improve development outcomes is reflected in the continued low number of application consultations resulting in an outright objection (Appendix Table 2). We objected outright to 6 planning applications in 2022/23 (1.1% of consultations received). These were:

• two fish farms (Special Area of Conservation (SAC) impacts on subtidal sandbanks);
• two housing developments (SAC interests; and adverse effects on special qualities of NSA (National Scenic Area)); 
• a telecoms mast (SAC impacts on wet heath and blanket bog); and, 
• a golf course due to priority peatland impact. 

In addition, we objected to nine section 36 wind farm applications in relation to impacts on wild land areas (3, all subsequently removed following adoption of NPF4), an NSA (3), SPA (2, offshore wind farms) and regionally distinctive landscape (1). We also objected to one section 37 transmission line due to SAC impacts.

Delivery of development

We continued to lead the delivery of the following national infrastructure projects that provided further opportunities for active travel, improving health and helping communities to grow economic activity and employment:

• Green Infrastructure Strategic Intervention: Delivery of projects continued during 2022/23. The remaining projects will complete during 2023/24 after which we will use the projects as demonstrations of a multifunctional response in urban areas to the climate and biodiversity crises.
• National Walking and Cycling Network (NWCN): Evolution of the NWCN during the preparation of NPF4 has been a focus of work in this year, including the expansion of its purpose to ensure that wheeling for everyday journeys is included. Work continues to take place alongside other strategic active travel policy developments.

Capacity-building

Our programme of capacity-building is integral to our commitment to upstream engagement in the Planning System. It includes training and guidance to support planners and developers, helping them to understand and take account of nature in designing proposals and decision-making.

Sharing good practice, skills and knowledge

We developed and shared good practice with a wide range of different stakeholders to help generate good development proposals. This included:

• continuing to improve the reading accessibility of guidance documents on our website in line with The Public Bodies Accessibility Regulations;

We continued to update and expand our range of standing advice and guidance to support high-quality development, including:

• standing advice for planning consultations affecting birds, including planning requirements, survey methods, mitigation and licensing;
• general pre-application and scoping advice for solar farms; 
• began review of our Habitats Regulations Appraisal of Development Plans to streamline and simplify this guidance;
• completed and published our Developing with Nature guidance in support of NPF4 Policy 3c.

Evidence and data-sharing

Our programme of research and evidence gathering increased knowledge and understanding of development issues, helped to solve problems and improved the quality of development proposals; along with the sharing of our data and making information more accessible to stakeholders. Examples in 2022/23 include:

• tendering and scoping of a CREW funded research project on hydro sector engagement for environmentally effective and cost-efficient sediment management at impoundments;
• collaborative approach working with multiple stakeholder groups to explore what is needed for nature networks, which will feed into development planning and other delivery areas;
• continuing to help maintain the online Air Pollution Information System (APIS), an essential tool for developers and planners in assessing air pollution impacts on protected areas, including the development of a mapping interface for users.

Service

Decision-making timescales

We continued to perform well in 2022/23 in terms of response times, with 95% of responses to SEA provided by the required date, and 87% of responses to planning consultations within agreed service timescales (Appendix Table 3).

Joint-working arrangements

We have collaborated with the Key Agencies Group (KAG) and others on initiatives to support the ongoing reforms to the Scottish Planning System and continue to work jointly with the other key agencies to provide integrated services wherever possible. 

Engagement with service users

We circulated our twice-yearly e-newsletter to developers, planners and other stakeholders, keeping them informed of the work we are doing to address development issues and the publication of any new or updated guidance, as well as inviting feedback.

Other examples of engagement with service users included the capacity-building outlined above, as well as working closely with the renewables sector through our engagement with Scottish Renewables and through liaison meetings with individual developers, as well as attendance at key renewables sector events.

Progress on this year's improvement priorities

Service aims and priorities for 2023/24

Our new Corporate Plan 2022-2026 - A nature-rich future for all sets out our priorities over the next four years to help turn around the nature crisis and achieve net-zero carbon emissions in Scotland. It includes our continued engagement in the planning system to help ensure it delivers for nature and the climate.

The priorities for our planning service in 2023/24 are:

• continuing to position nature at the heart of the planning system through further input to the delivery of NPF4 and the associated LDP Guidance, promotion of nature-based solutions and helping to develop guidance on the delivery of Positive Effects for Biodiversity;
• promoting understanding and awareness of the nature-based skills and capacity that the planning system requires to deliver Positive Effects for Biodiversity and address climate change;
• reviewing our Service Statement and all our related guidance in light of new policies arising from a final approved NPF4;
• seeking to further streamline our involvement in development management casework, and free up more time for upstream engagement, through a review of our casework procedures, including consideration of the potential for charging for some of our planning service;
• live testing the latest version of Informed Decision with NatureScot staff and external stakeholders, to measure potential efficiency savings and other benefits;
• ongoing support for Scottish Government in establishing Natural Capital as an integral part of public and private business planning and investment decisions at national, landscape and landholding/business scales.

Appendix: Consultation Statistics