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Planning, Architecture and Regeneration News

Key Agencies Rapid Planning Audit report

Today we have published the Key Agencies Rapid Planning Audit report.  This independent report, commissioned by the Scottish Government, was undertaken by Paul Cackette in response to the 2025 Programme for Government commitment to work with planning teams in agencies to reduce complexity, cost and speed up processes.

The report focuses on those five key agencies which have the most input into the planning system, Historic Environment Scotland; NatureScot; Scottish Environment Protection Agency; Scottish Water; and Transport Scotland.  The report contains 17 recommendations on how we can improve speed, reduce complexity, and enhance shared goals to ensure high quality planning decision making.

NPF4 policy overviews

Today we published three blogs containing links to the advice and guidance available for each of the 33 policies contained in NPF4. These overviews are a mix of advice and guidance published by the Scottish Government along with those published by agencies and stakeholders. The list is not exhaustive and these blogs are intended to be living documents, to be updated as and when new guidance becomes available.

The blogs contain the following policy split.

•           blog 1 – policy 1 to 11

•           blog 2 – policy 12 to 22

•          blog 3 – policy 23 to 33

Consultation on increasing the threshold for applications under the Electricity Act

On 30 December we published a consultation on increasing the current threshold of 50MW for onshore electricity generating stations to be considered by local authorities. Increasing the 50MW threshold, whether for all or only some technologies, would transfer responsibility for deciding more applications to planning authorities.

The consultation is open until 27 March 2026.

 National Planning Framework 4 Delivery Programme

On 8 January we published the fourth iteration of the National Planning Framework 4 Delivery Programme. The Delivery Programme sets out the wide-ranging, collaborative action to continue to deliver NPF4 and the policies it contains, since publication of the previous Delivery Programme in October 2023. It also provides an update on the 17 National Developments, which can now be seen in a new digital map launched on the same day. More information will be added to the map as data comes forward and sites are progressed.

Key Agencies Rapid Planning Audit report 

This independent report was published on 13 January. Commissioned by the Scottish Government, the audit was undertaken by Paul Cackette in response to the 2025 Programme for Government commitment to work with planning teams in agencies to reduce complexity, cost and speed up processes. The report focuses on those five key agencies which have the most input into the planning system, Historic Environment Scotland; NatureScot; Scottish Environment Protection Agency; Scottish Water; and Transport Scotland.  The report contains 17 recommendations on how we can improve speed, reduce complexity, and enhance shared goals to ensure high quality planning decision making.

Accelerating home-building in Scotland consultation

Today we have published a consultation on accelerating home-building in Scotland. The paper sets out four high level options to encourage faster build out and increase the volume of delivery: fiscal measures to tackle slow build-out rates; closer monitoring and intervention of slow build out; reduction of time and costs for SME builders; and diversifying outputs from deliverable land.

We are keen to see any evidence that could help to define possible impacts and consequences of the options, and would also welcome input of other ideas. The consultation closes for comments on 30 April.

Planning Fees regulations laid

Regulations (fees for appeals, fees for local reviews and fees for applications) have been laid today in the Scottish Parliament which will see planning fees in Scotland increase in line with inflation on 1 April 2026.

The additional fee income will support local authorities to strengthen investment in capacity, skills and performance of their planning services. It will help them to faster decisions, building on recent improvements including reduced decision times for major housing applications. The fee increases form part of the wider planning improvement programme, including the National Planning Improvement Champion and Frameworks and the National Planning Hub.

We have considered introducing a new fee category for hydrogen-related development. However we are not introducing such a category at this time, given the emerging and evolving nature of hydrogen-related projects.

An updated fees circular will be published in due course.

Hydrogen Planning and Consenting guidance

Hydrogen Planning and Consenting guidance has been published today by the Scottish Government. It provides comprehensive guidance to developers on planning and consenting processes for hydrogen projects of all scales in Scotland and covers a number of areas governed by different statutory regimes and regulatory bodies.

Addressing a range of topics critical for consideration in hydrogen projects, it includes chapters on planning permission, Control of Major Accidents and Hazards, Environmental Impact Assessments and Habitats Regulation Appraisals, Hazardous Substances Consent and environmental permitting. The guidance also includes a chapter on offshore hydrogen projects.

Scottish planning biodiversity metric

NatureScot have published new research this week providing an independent review of habitat classification systems that could be used within the Scottish Planning Biodiversity Metric. This commissioned report has been completed by botanical consultants Ben and Alison Averis as part of NatureScot’s development of a biodiversity metric for Scotland’s planning system.

Alongside the new research, you can read how NatureScot intend to incorporate the reports recommendations and the next steps.

Technical note on preparing a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

A new technical note for Planning Authorities on writing or updating a Forestry and Woodland Strategy has been published this week, available on the Scottish Forestry website. It replaces the 2010 guidance called ‘The right tree in the right place: Planning for forestry and woodlands’.