The 'go to' organisation for Local Government improvement in Scotland

Community planning

Closer working between service providers to improve outcomes for communities is the foundation of successful community planning. It is also the foundation for  recent place-based approaches to achieving outcomes. New requirements introduced through the Community Empowerment Act have implications for the spatial planning role undertaken by local authorities. Many community planning partners are already taking action in linking together the requirements of the Act with existing statutory requirements for spatial planning to prepare Local Development Plans. In these circumstances, Local Development Plans are being viewed as the spatial expression of the local outcomes improvement plan.

Spatial planning

The purpose of spatial planning is to manage the use of land and buildings in the public long-term interest. The statutory requirements on spatial planning are due to change in a new Planning Act in autumn 2019. It will include a specific provision requiring Local Development Plans to take into account their local outcome improvement plan. This aims to achieve better alignment with the wider activities and objectives arising from community planning under the Community Empowerment Act. It also aims to achieve practical benefits such as joined-up and effective community engagement, and consistent prioritisation of council and partner policy objectives. The existing provision for LDPs to provide a vision statement has been repealed to avoid unnecessary preparation of multi-visions for an area – the expectation is that the Local Development Plan will contribute to the wider vision for an area as set out in the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan.

The Place Programme at the Improvement Service supports closer working in the following ways:

• raising awareness of what is already happening across Scotland at events and webinars. We bring the two sets of practitioners together to learn and discuss progress.
• the Place Network offers a Khub group and Twitter feed for timely updates and discussion on alignment.
• promoting and supporting the use of the Place Standard Tool with Community Planning and the opportunity it affords for closer alignment with spatial planning