Review of the Guidance on Engaging Communities in Decisions Relating to Land

7. Conclusion and next steps

Overall, the evidence indicates that the Guidance continues to provide a useful foundation for supporting community engagement in Scotland’s land use context. Its principles have helped shape expectations, and its influence is evident both directly and indirectly through Stakeholder evidence of its use, as well as through related resources such as the Commission’s Protocols, sector specific tools and wider engagement guidance.

At the same time, the evidence gathered for this review highlights a number of areas where the effectiveness of the Guidance could be improved or clarified. Stakeholders emphasised the value of the existing approach in being flexible and proportionate, but also identified opportunities for clearer expectations, more updated and consistent terminology, as well as updates and alignment with the wider and evolving landscape of community engagement and land use decision making.

Evidence also pointed to the benefits of improving accessibility, both in how the Guidance is presented and in how users are supported to navigate related statutory requirements, sector specific processes and emerging land use contexts.

Feedback also indicates overall awareness of the Guidance is relatively low, although there is greater awareness of the Commission’s resources and some sector specific guidance derived from the Guidance. Improving the effectiveness of the Guidance may require raising awareness across sectors and communities, as well as improving signposting to complementary resources, and supporting consistent understanding of the Guidance alongside related statutory duties.

Based on this evidence, we recommend changes should be made to a future iteration of the Guidance and suggest that the evidence from Stakeholders and the Hutton research should be given further consideration. We also recommend taking steps to address raising awareness of the Guidance.

The Hutton research noted that there is currently limited understanding of the overall effectiveness of the Guidance, partly because there is no formal mechanism for monitoring how it is used. Introducing more regular and formal monitoring may not be proportionate: we recognise that the Commission’s work and the statutory reports on the effectiveness of the Guidance already provide useful insights into practice and offer a foundation for considering how understanding of engagement practice could be improved over time.

Looking ahead, there may be value in considering how the Guidance fits alongside the 2025 Act and the forthcoming review of the LRRS. The LRRS review due by September 2027, together with the implementation of the 2025 Act, provides an appropriate opportunity to reflect on whether and how the Guidance might be refreshed. This will help ensure it continues to provide clear expectations, support meaningful community engagement and continues to operate as a practical overarching framework alongside related resources.