Question reference: S6W-02852
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 9 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to comments by Homes for Scotland regarding the Programme for Government that planning and regulatory systems "are in need of increased resources to enable local councils to cope with the levels of demand for new homes".
Answer
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.
The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and we are aware that authorities across the country are under financial pressure, and that this has impacted on planning departments. 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.
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.
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 4,293 planning applications for housing.