Chamber and committees

My remarks to the conferenceon 7 March 2006 were intended to urge local authorities collectivelyto show much greater commitment through their development plans to the identificationof a genuine long-term effective land supply. I expect this to be achieved by acombination of local authorities making more effective use of existing planningprocesses (the type of issue that is being explored by the Affordable Housing WorkingGroup) and by the Executive progressing measures to support the supply of affordablehousing and land for housing more generally.

The provisions in the currentPlanning Bill are designed to speed up the preparation of development plans, whichin turn will be a mechanism to increase the amount of land available for housingdevelopment. We have commissioned research to consider the effectiveness of measuresto allocate land for affordable housing, and in particular the potential role ofa separate use class for affordable housing. We are also working hard to improveaccess by affordable housing providers to surplus public sector land.

Housing land audits are usedto quantify current housing land supply, and to assess which sites are “effective”.SPP 3 emphasises that audits should normally be updated on a yearly basis and PAN38 provides further advice. However, I understand that across Scotland theremay be variations in approach to the audit process. We are considering commissioninga short research project to identify good practice to help establish more consistency.

Taken together, these measuresshould help to deliver the “step change” in our approach to land supply about whichI spoke on 7 March 2006.

The following table providesnumbers of probationers participating in each year of the induction scheme sinceit started in August 2002. Most of those who fail to complete do so either due tohealth related absence or competence related issues or a combination of these factors.

On the issue of employment I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18887on 28 September 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Year	Total no. of Probationers as at August	Successfully Completed Probationary Year
2002-03	2,078	2,021
2003-04	1,845	1,770
2004-05	2,093	1,991
2005-06	2,737	figures not yet available
2006-07	3,668*
Total	12,421

Note: *As at June.

An adequate supply of landdepends upon up to date and relevant development plans. One of the foundationsof our current proposals to modernise the planning system is that developmentplans must be reviewed every five years. In doing so, planning authoritiesshould find it easier to meet the requirements currently set out in SPP 3, suchas ensuring an effective supply of land is maintained at all times to meethousing requirements for at least the forthcoming five years.

I recognise that thesesignificant changes will take time to have their full impact, which is why weare also exploring how to make progress without recourse to legislation. TheAffordable Housing Working Group that I am chairing is looking precisely atthese issues.

We are expanding the rangeof statistics that are collected by the Scottish Executive DevelopmentDepartment to monitor the impact of PAN 74. In particular, we have begun workto introduce a new data collection from 2007-08 to gauge the contribution ofplanning agreements to the supply of affordable housing. In the shorter term,the current research into allocation of land for affordable housing through theplanning system will provide some information on the early impact of the PAN. TheAffordable Housing Working Group which I am chairing is also assessing theeffectiveness of the current framework of national policy and advice onaffordable housing.

The research into allocationof land for affordable housing through the planning system, which is to includeconsideration of the potential introduction of a use class for affordablehousing, is expected to conclude in September and will inform the progress of the Planning Bill. As with all research commissioned by the Scottish Executive,subject to the report being of an appropriate standard, we would intend to publishin due course after the report has been finalised.

Real progress has alreadybeen made on making better use of surplus public sector land for affordablehousing. Our agreement with Forestry Commission Scotland is already assistingthe provision of affordable housing in rural areas, with five sites sold inInchree, Fort Augustus, Glenmore, Ratagan and Bunessan. A further fivesales are currently progressing at Salen, Succoth, Dalavich, Strontian andKilmun. Furthermore, the Executive has made a commitment that surplus sites onthe Scottish Ministers’ crofting estate will be made available for affordablehousing wherever possible. The response to question S2W-23170 in March 2006 setout the full range of on-going action which the Executive is taking to identifyfurther surplus public sector land for affordable housing.

The Community Ownership Programmeis open to any local authority in Scotland, and each application is considered on its own merit.

The City of Edinburgh Council is reviewing the options for the future of its housing and any decisionto re-apply to the community ownership programme lies with the council.

Tenant participation is at theheart of community ownership and section 76 and Schedule 9 of the Housing (Scotland)Act 2001 clearly sets out the requirements for statutory consultation with tenantswhose homes are included in a transfer proposal. There are no proposals to changethis guidance to include prospective tenants.

The remit of the Affordable HousingWorking Group is “To establish means of securing the more effective supply of affordablehousing in areas of greatest need”. The group has met on one occasion and was attendedby representatives from four local authorities, Homes for Scotland, the ScottishFederation of Housing Associations, COSLA and Scottish Water. There will be a furthermeeting of the group in October at which the work programme will be discussed, althoughat this stage it is not envisaged that the group will prepare or present a formalreport. The work of the group will be informed by research already commissionedby the Executive on the allocation of land for affordable housing through the planningsystem. The completed research is expected to be available prior to the Octobermeeting of the working group.

The Scottish Executive InquiryReporters Unit (SEIRU) has already issued advice to local authorities on this matter.In March of this year the Chief Inquiry Reporter wrote to all Heads of Planningin local authorities explaining how improvements in current practice at local planinquiries were being implemented. The first paragraph of that advice suggested thatthe planning authority should establish a timetable for the lead-in to the publicinquiry from the end of the deposit period, allowing sufficient time for its ownconsideration of the merits of the objections lodged to the local plan and for thepreparation of all documentation. Additionally, the SEIRU have adopted a more systematicapproach to assessing authorities’ state of preparation. In addition to a quarterlyprogress report from all authorities, the Unit explores the realism of the programmefor each local plan through preparatory meetings involving the SEIRU and local authorityofficials before committing to the provision of a reporter.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:

A number of changes will affecthow local authorities prepare their Local Housing Strategies. These include legislativechanges arising from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, proposals to create a nationalStrategic Housing Investment Framework, and on-going work to ensure that assessmentsof future housing need are more consistent and more strongly linked to assessmentsof overall housing supply requirements for development planning purposes.

These changes will necessitaterevisions to the current guidance on the preparation of Local Housing Strategies.Local authorities are expected to update their current Local Housing Strategiesby early 2009. We propose therefore to issue a series of revisions to the guidanceto reflect these changes in sufficient time for local authorities to prepare bothfor the implementation of the Strategic Housing Investment Framework and for theirLocal Housing Strategies to be completed by the deadline.

Local housing needs assessmentsare complex exercises that must be prepared using robust methodology that takesaccount of both local and national requirements. We will shortly be piloting anexercise which aims to gather needs assessment information in a standard way. Whenthe exercise is rolled out across Scotland at the end of the year, it will help us to gain a betterunderstanding of the relationship between local and nationally undertaken needsassessments. More consistent and reliable local needs assessments will enhance theirvalue as a contributory element of soundly based development plans and in informingresource allocations.

An analysis of the quantityof materials required and the proposed mitigation is described in some detailin the Environmental Statement prepared for the scheme a copy of which can be obtained from the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 40051).

The sourcing of materials andany necessary statutory consents will be a commercial matter for the contractorfor the works. During the development of the scheme, preliminary investigationswere undertaken into potential sources of infill within Central Scotland. A number of these sources offer the potential for rail haulage to thesite.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for moreinformation if required.