Chamber and committees

Scottish Parliament Scrutiny of the Draft National Planning Framework 4 - 3 November 2021

Letter from the Convener to the Presiding Officer and Convener Scottish Parliamentary Bureau - 3 November 2021

Dear Presiding Officer,

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT SCRUTINY OF THE DRAFT NATIONAL PLANNING FRAMEWORK 4

I am writing on behalf of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee on the forthcoming publication of the Scottish Government’s fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).

The Committee understands the statutory procedure12 for laying and scrutinising the framework means an initial draft will be laid in the Scottish Parliament, and stakeholders and Parliament will have 120 days13 to consider and make representations to the Scottish Government.

Following this, the Scottish Government is required to consider the representations made during this time14 (and if changes are made, to consult again15) before laying a further draft before the Scottish Parliament for approval by resolution. The new framework cannot be adopted without the approval of the Scottish Parliament16.

The Scottish Government has said:
"In Autumn 2021, we will lay a draft NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament. At the same time we will carry out extensive public consultation. We anticipate producing a final version of NPF4 for approval and adoption around spring 2022."

While the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee has concerns around the practicalities of concurrent Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament consultation, it is proposing to coordinate collaborative scrutiny of the draft framework by several parliamentary committees during the 120 day consultation phase. I am writing to bring this work to your attention.

The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee is therefore asking that sufficient time is allowed following the laying of the “final version” to allow the committees of the Scottish Parliament the opportunity to consider the final draft and to report prior to Parliament being asked to approve the Framework by resolution.

I would be happy to discuss this issue further and the clerks to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee can be contacted to arrange this.

Yours sincerely

Ariane Burgess
Convener, Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee