The National Planning Improvement Framework will be tested incrementally in three separate cohorts throughout the 2024/5 financial year. All planning authorities are expected to be involved at some stage in the pilots. The pilot aims to test this new framework and it is an opportunity to explore what works and what doesn’t. We are gathering feedback from the planning authorities on:
- ease of use for planning authorities, including the time and resources required.
- ease of management by the NPI team
- ease of use for other stakeholders with a stake in planning performance and improvement
- relevance, usability and effectiveness of the identified contributory factors and data sources
- effectiveness in providing evidence on planning authority performance.
Cohort 1
Cohort 1 started in April 2024 and is being piloted by 10 planning authorities who volunteered for the first cohort. They are:
| Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Aberdeenshire | Scottish Borders |
| East Ayrshire | Renfrewshire |
| East Lothian | Stirling |
| Edinburgh | Glasgow |
| FIfe | North Lanarkshire |
Cohort 2
Cohort 2 began in August 2025 and 10 planning authorities volunteered to take part. They are:
| Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Inverclyde | East Dunbartonshire |
| North Ayrshire | Angus |
| Orkney | Shetland |
| Perth and Kinross | Dundee |
| Highland | Argyll and Bute |
Cohort 3
Cohort 3 started in December 2024 and 14 planning authorities are taking part. They are:
| Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | Cairngorms |
| Moray | Loch Lomond and the Trossachs |
| South Lanarkshire | West Lothian |
| Aberdeen | Falkirk |
| West Dunbartonshire | Clackmannanshire |
| Dumfries and Galloway | East Renfrewshire |
| South Ayrshire | Midlothian |
You can all the guidance and templates for the cohorts here:
- NPIF guidance
- Template for performance assessment
- Template for improvement action plan
- Template for good practice case studies
- Context spreadsheet outlining the NPIF themes, the attributes of a high-performing planning authority, contributory factors and prompts to help you build a narrative.
- Short guidance paper to support the facilitation of the NPIF review workshops.
Craig McLaren
National Planning Improvement Champion
Susan Rintoul
Improvement Lead
Contact the National Planning Improvement team on NPI@improvementservice.org.uk.
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Access to Expertise Programme
The Access to Expertise programme works closely with planning authorities to help them obtain the skills and expertise that they need to work effectively and efficiently.
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Learning Programme
The Learning and Knowledge Exchange programme aims to support planning authorities and the organisations they work with to improve their understanding of priority issues they face.