The Royal Town Planning Institute Scotland has released its response to the Investing in Planning consultation, noting that planning fees will not fix the planning system alone
Fee increases alone that are not specifically designated for planning purposes were especially found not to fix the planning system.
Planning fees in Scotland only cover 66% of processing costs, according to the research.
RTPI’s response was created from feedback from RTPI Scotland members.
Consultation failed to consider plan-making and enforcement
The research found that plan-making and enforcement both suffer from underinvestment but offer opportunities for investment.
Plan-making guides development to ensure that communities have a predictable framework to follow, and enforcement ensures compliance with regulations to maintain public trust.
Scotland’s planning system the lowest-funded local authority department nationally
Previous RTPI research highlighted that Scotland’s planning system experienced a 28.6% drop from 2010 to 2011.
The change from 2020 to 2021 to 2021 to 2022 was -2.4% at a national scale, while all other services increased to some degree.
Research also found that the workforce was at its lowest level in five years, with 1,205 staff in local authorities between 2022 and 2023.
The previous year’s staff level was at 1,242.
‘Fee increases have failed to bring about meaningful change’
Although the proposals highlight the urgency of addressing Scotland’s underfunding of its planning system, they rely too heavily on fees alone.
Caroline Brown, director of RTPI Scotland, said that the proposals aim to “ensure that any additional fee income is invested or reinvested in planning services” and avoid ” suggesting ring-fencing fees.”
However, RTPI members noted that “historically, fee increases have failed to bring about meaningful change, and increasing fees without ringfencing may lead to the same result.”
