Aline Kirkland, Digital Planning Data Project Manager, discusses how effective use of planning data can support Scotland's public service reform ambitions.
Scotland's Public Service Reform Strategy sets out a vision for public services that are more efficient, better connected, preventative, fiscally sustainable, and focused on delivering outcomes for people and communities.
Reading the strategy, it was clear that effective data collection, management and use is central to achieving those ambitions.
The root cause analysis behind the reform programme identifies two important enablers of system change:
- Data sharing should be proportionate and straightforward.
- Duplication needs to be removed from the system.
These principles are as relevant to Planning as they are to any other part of local government.
As Planning becomes increasingly focused on delivering outcomes, we are being asked to not only produce plans and policies, but also to demonstrate their impact. Whether the objective is creating walkable neighbourhoods, revitalising town centres, supporting housing delivery, improving health outcomes, or delivering climate goals, the question is increasingly becoming:
How do we know whether we've succeeded?
The answer is that monitoring and evaluation need to be designed into policy from the beginning, not added as an afterthought.
Policy needs an evidence base
Too often, policies are developed without fully considering how outcomes will be measured. Long after implementation, organisations find themselves being assessed against objectives without having established the baseline data, indicators, or analytical processes needed to measure and understand progress.
If we want to know whether a new development supports a walkable neighbourhood, we need to define what success looks like and establish a baseline before implementation.
If we want to understand whether a Town Centre First approach is reducing vacancies and increasing activity, we need consistent measures and data collection in place from the outset.
Designing policy and designing evidence should be the same conversation.
Without a clear link between policy and evidence, activities may continue because they have always been done that way, rather than because there is evidence, they remain the most effective way of achieving outcomes.
Data consistency reduces duplication
There's also an important national dimension to this. If every planning authority collects, defines and stores data differently, we build duplication into the system and make comparison difficult. Each authority ends up solving the same analytical problems independently. But if Scotland adopts consistent data standards, schemas and monitoring frameworks across Local Development Plans, we create genuine economies of scale. Analysis can be developed once and repeated many times. Digital tools can be shared. Benchmarking becomes easier. Local insight can contribute to a stronger national evidence base.
This directly supports the aims of public sector reform. Rather than duplicating effort across 34 planning authorities, we can invest in common approaches that improve efficiency and reduce duplication of efforts, while strengthening our collective understanding of what works.
Consistent national approaches also allow us to learn from success and failure, improving policy development across Scotland over time.
Accountability requires reporting
In many ways, this connects directly to the evolving National Performance Framework and the wider public sector reform agenda. If organisations are to be increasingly held accountable for outcomes, we need consistent evidence that demonstrates progress.
That means considering data requirements at the very start of policy design, not at the point when reporting is required. By defining core indicators, data requirements and monitoring processes early, we can reduce duplication of effort while creating a clearer line of sight between policy interventions and outcomes.
Put simply, meaningful accountability depends on meaningful evidence.
Public sector reform is not only about changing organisations. It's also about changing how we design information into our systems.
For Planning, that means treating data not as a reporting requirement, but as essential infrastructure for learning, accountability, and better decision-making.
What would this process look like?
In line with the goals of public sector reform, linking Planning policies to measurable outcomes is about more than collecting the right data (although that is important!), it is about designing evidence systems and reusing them many times over, both within and across planning authorities. At its core, consistency in accountability requires consistent evidence and process.
Define Outcomes
What are we trying to achieve?
Define Indicators and Baseline
How will success be measured? What is the starting position?
Design Data Collection
What data is needed? Who owns it? How will it be collected?
Implement Policy
Deliver the Local Development Plan and associated interventions
Collect Data
Gather evidence consistently throughout implementation
Analyse and Evaluate
What has changed? Are we achieving intended outcomes?
Policy Review
Report findings and assess impact
Improve and Adapt
Refine policies using evidence and lessons learned