Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament, founded in 1999 and sitting in Edinburgh, has a total of 129 MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament). 73 MSPs are elected directly from single member constituencies and the remaining 56 are elected via a proportional system using eight electoral regions that coincide with the eight pre-1999 European Parliament seats.

The single member constituencies are the same as the Westminster parliamentary constituencies except that 'Orkney & Shetland' has been split into 'Orkney Islands' and 'Shetland Islands'.

Highlands and Islands Constituencies

• Argyll and Bute 
• Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 
• Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
• Moray
• Orkney Islands
• Ross, Skye and Inverness West 
• Shetland Islands 
• Western Isles (Eilean Siar) 

The Scottish Parliament appoints a First Minister, who in turn appoints other ministers to form the devolved government known as the Scottish Executive. The Executive is in turn accountable to the Parliament.

Scotland is subdivided into 32 council areas, which in turn are divided into electoral wards and communities.

The 1994 Local Government (Scotland) Act led to the abolition of the existing structure of 9 regions and 53 districts, although the 3 island councils remained. Since April 1996 therefore Scotland has been divided into 32 units known as council areas, whose councils are unitary administrations with responsibility for all areas of local government. Council areas are built from electoral wards and are also divided into communities.

Electoral wards/divisions are the key building block of UK administrative geography, being the spatial units used to elect local government councillors in council areas in Scotland. Electoral ward/division boundary changes are usually enacted on the first Thursday in May each year, to coincide with the local government elections. These correspond to LAU 2 areas.

Scotland also has communities but their councils are generally a channel of opinion to other authorities rather than an administration in their own right. All of Scotland has had communities delineated, which fit into and change with council areas. However, community councils (CCs) are not statutory and only exist if volunteers are willing to run them. In consequence there are approximately 1150 such councils, which can represent either single delineated communities or groups of them. There are also nearly 200 communities, mostly in the larger cities, which have no council.

The principle role of CCs is to act as a channel for the views of local communities. They have a legal right to be notified of and respond to planning applications and can be involved in a range of activities, mostly related to local infrastructure and community events (eg playgrounds, bus shelters, village halls, footpaths, flower beds, Christmas celebrations). Not all CCs participate however and those that do have to rely on voluntary work and fund-raising; many receive local authority funding for running costs only. CCs can however obtain grants for specific schemes.

In fact, although some are supportive, many local authorities tend to disregard their CCs and do not consider them to be a tier of government, even though they legally can have that role. It is only in Eilean Siar (formerly known as 'Western Isles'), Orkney and especially in Shetland that CCs are viewed as an important tier in the administrative structure and have a correspondingly larger budget. Scotland's network of parishes was abolished for administrative purposes in 1973, when CCs were initiated. These new CCs are not based on old parish areas. As indicated, CCs fit inside council area boundaries, whereas the old parish geography no longer corresponds with any modern administrative pattern.

Planning system

The Planning Authority is usually the local authority – the unitary council.  Until 1996, Scotland had a “two-tier” system of local government with regional and district councils.  Generally the regions were responsible for strategic policy by the preparation of structure plans, while district councils were responsible for a local plan and development control issues.  The new unitary authorities (with an obligation to prepare both a structure plan and a local plan) are both strategic and local planning authorities though in a number of areas (notably around Glasgow and Edinburgh) for strategic planning purposes, a number of unitary authorities are brought together to produce strategic plans on a joint committee basis.  However the Scottish Executive are of the view that the preparation of both a structure plan and a local plan is an unnecessary burden for most parts of the country and it is likely in the near future only the 4 conurbations (plus possibly Inverness) will have a strategic development plan with most parts of the country having only a local plan.

Planning is about the future development and use of land. Decisions are usually best taken at the local level, so planning is normally a matter for councils. Your council's three main planning duties are:

• preparing development plans;
• deciding on applications for planning permission; and
• taking action against development that hasn't been approved.

Development plans

The development plan is made up of two parts - the structure plan and the local plan. Between them they show how much development may take place, where it will take place and where it is unlikely to be allowed. Development plans are the basis for decisions on planning applications. They contain policies for the future development and use of land in an area. Plans can cover a wide range of issues such as housing, transport, employment, shopping, recreation and conserving and protecting the countryside.

The structure plan for an area takes a long-term view of development, considering its general scale and broadly where it should be located. Each council will prepare a structure plan either alone or working with neighbouring councils. After there has been wide consultation with the public and other interested people and organisations, the council submits a structure plan to us for approval.

Local plans are often for smaller areas. They set out more detailed policies and proposals to guide development. Again, councils must consult widely on the content of a local plan. After considering all views and objections and making suitable changes, councils will adopt the local plan as the basis for their decision making in the area. They cannot do this if the local plan is not in line with the approved structure plan.

The Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 received Royal Assent in December 2006. This represents a further important stage in delivering the Executive's commitment to reform the planning system and can be seen as the culmination of a series of consultations and white papers published from 2001 onwards (see Modernising Publications below).

A brief guide to the provisions in the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 has been produced to set out what each part of the Act will do. This supplements the explanatory notes to the Planning Act which set out in detail the purpose of each section.

A Modernising Planning presentation, with speaking notes attached, is also available to help communicate the aims of modernisation and the key changes that are being introduced.

The Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 will update the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and other primary legislation affecting planning. Royal Assent of the 2006 Act means that it has been approved by the Scottish Parliament, but its contents will not come into force, or update relevant sections in the 1997 Act, until they have been enacted by commencement orders. The first commencement orders will be in place in spring 2007 and others will follow over the next 2-3 years.

Aims of modernisation

The modernisation of the planning system is a major undertaking. The aims are to improve the planning system by:

• strengthening the involvement of communities;
• speeding up decisions;
• reflecting local views better; and
• allowing quicker investment decisions.

The Act sets out the changes to existing primary legislation that are needed to deliver these overarching commitments. The changes to legislation form part of the wider package of modernisation set out in the White Paper Modernising the Planning System, which was developed following an extensive programme of consultations and stakeholders engagements on all aspects of the planning system. The package in the White Paper will make Scotland's planning system fit for purpose, more efficient, more inclusive and more sustainable.

The wider picture

A modern planning system needs more than just a revised and updated statutory framework. Importantly. The modernisation process requires a change in the way that the planning system is viewed and operated. A change in behaviours and attitudes is required from all those involved in operating and using the system. Unlocking Planning's Potential, published Thursday 29th March, sets out what the Executive, Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and planning authorities are doing to adapt to the new system and suggests how all other stakeholders including applicants, developers, consultants, communities, consultees and planning schools can assist.

While pressing ahead with the implementation of the new system, the Executive is continuing to deliver on its other legislative and policy commitments, which will also make a significant contribution to modernisation. This includes work to:

• develop the second National Planning Framework;
• progress with the ongoing programme to update Scottish Planning Policies;
• progress with the ongoing programme to update Planning Advice Notes.

Recommended further reading:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Planning/AdviceGuidance/planning-guides/2482#a2

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Planning/Modernising

http://www.planningsanity.co.uk/forums/legal/ppgs/scotppgs.htm#sppgs – a comprehensive online resource of everything you need to know about the Scottish planning system.

Download page as pdf

 Summary of the current political and planning system in Scotland