Planning Performance: High Level Group minutes - March 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Public Finance
• Cllr Gail Macgregor (Chair), COSLA Spokesperson for Environment and Economy
• Paul Macari, (Aberdeenshire Council) SOLACE
• Jenny Munro, Royal Town Planning Institute Scotland
• Peter Noad, (Scottish Enterprise) Key Agencies Group
• Craig McLaren, National Planning Improvement Champion
• Susan Rintoul, National Planning Improvement Team
• David McAllister, Planning Aid Scotland
• Jacqueline Cook, (Burges Salmon LLP) Applicant Stakeholder Group
• Calum Lindsay, COSLA
• Dr Fiona Simpson, Chief Planner, Scottish Government
• Andy Kinnaird, Scottish Government
• Barry Stalker, Scottish Government
• Anne Grove, Scottish Government
• Chris Sinclair, Scottish Government
• Euan Urquhart, Scottish Government

Apologies

• Chris Cox, (South Ayrshire Council) Heads of Planning Scotland
• Rob McIntosh, (Aberdeenshire Council) SOLAR

Items and actions

Welcome and opening remarks

Cllr Macgregor welcomed everyone to the last meeting before the Scottish Parliament election and thanked the Minister for his contributions over his term. Cllr MacGregor also thanked Craig McLaren for his work as National Planning Improvement Champion (NPIC) and the National Planning Hub.

The Minister also acknowledged the work the group has overseen since he took up position, thanking members for their constructive input and challenge. He also provided an update on some of the work done since the last meeting including:

• the withdrawal of over 1000 pages of old planning guidance to clear the system.
• publication of a range of guidance on Planning Obligations, Biodiversity, Hydrogen, Battery Energy Storage Systems, and Local Development Plan Evidence and Gate checks, as well as good practice guidance on National Planning Framework (NPF) 4 policies and the fourth iteration of the NPF4 Delivery programme
• the closure of the compulsory purchase order reform consultation, with the results being published after the election period
• current consultations on accelerating house building and Electricity Act threshold

Note of previous meeting and action points

The note of the last meeting was agreed, and it was noted that the action points would be addressed during the meeting.

Local Development Plans

An update on progress with Local Development Plans (LDP) was provided. The Scottish Government published an action plan and advice in February on evidence reports and preparing for the gatecheck, which includes actions for all stakeholders in the process (Scottish Government, Planning and Enviromental Appeals Division (DPEA), planning authorities). The Scottish Government is now focusing on support for the next stage of plan preparation which includes hosting a workshop on 31 March on how planning authorities can take new evidence into account during the plan preparation process. Attendees will include Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS), DPEA reporters, Homes for Scotland, and the National Planning Improvement Champion.

The next set of returns providing updates on progress with replacing LDPs are due shortly. A map has been produced to show where each authority is at in the process and where they are in relation to the 2028 completion target. The Scottish Government has also asked planning authorities what they are doing to speed the process up. Results will be shared.

The Improvement Champion highlighted an event being held on 21 April looking at how to put steps in place to accelerate LDPs. The session will focus on key challenges and issues and what support would help make best progress, such as online learning, webinar, peer support.

The Key Agencies Group (KAG) has also issued advice on evidence reports and are now preparing guidance on the proposed plan stage. The KAG has requested that they are kept up to date on local authorities’ timelines in order to manage future workloads.

Planning Hub update

A presentation was delivered on the first year of the National Planning Hub. The key points covered were:

• the origins of the National Planning Hub and it’s evolution from the Hydrogen Planning Hub.
• the hub offers surge capacity, brokerage, and wrap around support
• funded 50 projects across 20 authorities, with only 3 authorities having not engaged with the Hub.
• provided over £1m of support to planning authorities across the Hub’s priorities

The Hub is anticipating to build on the past year, however recognising decisions on what comes next will be for the next administration.

• action: National Planning Hub to attend COSLA Group to raise awareness of offer and impact of the Hub

Applicant Stakeholder Group priority issue – viability

Viability was identified as an issue in the recent Applicant Stakeholder Group. A summary of the discussion from the meeting was provided and the question posed if there would be any further guidance on viability, including how to navigate what would be viable or not, particularly surrounding developer contributions.

It was highlighted that there is a challenge balancing viability of a development and profit, particularly, what an appropriate profit level is, and how developers and authorities can reach agreement.

It was acknowledged that local authorities consider viability in preparing their LDP and that deliverability is a key consideration and that development needs to be realistic, and local authorities are not in a position to absorb the significant costs associated with mitigating the impact of development.

Elected Member Training

Planning Aid Scotland (PAS) is supporting the Scottish Government (SG) in developing the mandatory elected member training, following a previously developed routemap. Update included:

• training content and test questions have been developed in collaboration with the Improvement Service
• the training will be delivered as a modular programme and will be hosted on the Councillor Academy portal
• modules will cover the plan-led system, how it works, application process, decision making at committee level, the role of elected members, code of conduct obligations, and post-decision processes including local reviews and appeals
• it is estimated that the training should take approximately 3 hours to complete
• short tests will be completed at the end of each module which will likely comprise  of 4 questions
• the draft content and test questions are to be shared with the SG by the end of March
• the training is intended to be tested by SG and HOPS along with a sample of elected members
• SG is starting to progress guidance notes on the training and the required legislation to support implementation

Closing remarks

Cllr Macgregor and the Minister reiterated their thanks to the group for their contributions and collaboration in improving the planning system in Scotland.