Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-02645 on 14 September 2021 which set out that the resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and we recently recommenced work looking at increasing the financial resources available to planning authorities through changes to the planning fees regime. An updated work plan for the implementation of the Scottish Government’s planning reform programme, including work on planning fees and performance, will be published shortly.

The performance of the system is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities and everyone involved in planning must play their part in ensuring that the system functions effectively and efficiently. Increased fee income is not the sole solution to the resourcing issues faced by authorities. As a result, we are working with the RTPI, Heads of Planning Scotland and others to explore additional measures, including skills and capacity building.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The High Level Group on Planning Performance aims to improve the performance of the planning system for all types of development. It does not have a workstream which focuses specifically on the processing of windfarm applications. As highlighted in the response to S6W-02645 on 14 September 2021, the resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and we recently recommenced work looking at increasing the financial resources available to planning authorities through changes to the planning fees regime.

The latest planning statistics published in July 2021 indicate that timescales for major applications for electricity generation are 10 weeks faster than the Scottish average for all types of major development. With regards to local applications for electricity generation, although timescales are 4 weeks slower than the Scottish average for all non-householder applications, over 52% were determined within the statutory timescale. The average decision time for local electricity generation developments has varied substantially over the last seven years but prior to 2020-21 the overall trend showed a decrease in average decision time.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government have continued to ensure that the sites of standalone ATMs in rural areas are exempt from rating. Other ATMs may benefit from as much as a 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, each local Council has wide-raging powers to create rates reliefs to reflect local needs. This may apply to a sole business, sector or area. The relief may be an adaptation of an existing national relief scheme or a unique standalone scheme.

Although the UK Government retains legislative and regulatory responsibility for banking and financial services, the Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with banks, regulators and the UK Government to ensure that the ability to freely and easily access cash is maintained. The Scottish Government has repeatedly requested that the UK Government appoint a regulator with sole responsibility for cash infrastructure.

Our Programme for Government 2021-22 commits to the creation of at least one new National Park by the end of this Parliament, provided relevant legal conditions can be met.

This is a significant project which will involve widespread consultation, Parliamentary engagement and secondary legislation. There are a number of stages to this work, including scoping of candidate areas and analysis of proposals. The process for selecting and establishing a new National Park is set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 which has a number of consultation and drafting stages. The legislation sets out that the first step to identify appropriate candidate areas is a thorough consultation process. Once that consultation has been carried out and a location agreed upon, work can begin on establishing a new public body. Assessment of the resources required to take forward this work is under way and recruitment will follow, with work expected to commence in Spring 2022.

In our Programme for Government we have committed £500 million over the course of this Parliament to protect and restore our natural environment. This includes funding to create a new National Park and to improve visitor facilities, safety measures and access opportunities in existing National Parks and in regional parks. This will support progressive development, address the climate emergency in the way we use our land, and improve public and community wellbeing .

The Scottish Government has no current plans to undertake research into the impact of onshore windfarms on tourism. As answered previously (S6W-02641 on 6 September 2021) our entire economic strategy is focused on sustainable and inclusive growth. While there are no plans for research in this specific area, any actions we take in terms of supporting immediate sector recovery and beyond will be focused on meeting the objectives of both our climate change and economic strategies.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The UK-wide Principle Trial (Platform Randomised Trial of Treatments on the Community for Epidemic and Pandemic Illness) funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is looking at early treatment for COVID-19 to prevent ill health and hospitalisation. It is evaluating a number of potential treatments. More information about this trial is at: Join the PRINCIPLE Trial — PRINCIPLE Trial

The Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office is also funding a trial of a potential anti-viral medicine as an early treatment of COVID-19. More information about this trial is at: GETAFIX - Glasgow Early Treatment Arm FavipiravirX (getafix-trial.org.uk)

The Scottish Government believe that our National Parks bring many positive benefits to our environment and our economy, which is why our Programme for Government 2021-22 commits to the creation of at least one new National Park by the end of this Parliament, provided relevant legal conditions can be met.

The process for selecting and establishing new National Park is set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000. That legislation rightly includes a thorough consultation process and Ministers will provide an update on the timings for that in due course.

In 2021-22 the Scottish Government allocated £11.7 billion to authorities and it is the responsibility of individual councils to manage their own budgets and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

Some planning applications will have longer decision times due to their scale and complexity. Planning decision timescales have also inevitably been affected by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020-21, despite these impacts, authorities determined 149 planning applications for electricity generation developments.

The performance of the system is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities and everyone involved in planning must play their part in ensuring that the system functions effectively and efficiently.

The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities. That is why in 2019 we published a consultation which proposed making changes to the planning fee regime to increase the financial resources available to authorities. That work was paused during the pandemic but has recently been recommenced and we will work with the High Level Group on Planning Performance to take it forward.