SUPPLEMENTARY GUIDANCE
81. Section 22 of the Act allows supplementary guidance ( SG) to be adopted and issued by a strategic development planning authority in connection with a SDP, or by a planning authority in connection with a LDP. Any such guidance will form part of the development plan. The intention is that this enhanced status will allow much material that was previously contained in old-style structure plans and local plans to be contained instead in supplementary guidance. As a result, the plans themselves will be able to focus on the spatial strategy and the key policies and proposals.
82. Before adopting SG, the Act requires that authorities must first publicise it, giving a date before which representations may be made. Authorities must make people who may wish to comment aware of the guidance, and give them an opportunity to comment. The authority must then consider any comments, and then send Scottish Ministers a copy of the SG they wish to adopt. In addition, draft regulation 28 proposes that authorities send a statement setting out the publicity measures they have undertaken, the comments they received, and an explanation of how these comments were taken into account to Ministers. After 28 days have elapsed, the authority may then adopt the guidance unless Scottish Ministers have directed otherwise.
83. The draft regulations aim to ensure that the public is properly involved in the preparation of SG. Authorities may issue guidance in connection with SDPs or LDPs without going through these procedures, but this will not be termed supplementary guidance and will not form part of the development plan.
84. The Act also allows Scottish Ministers to prescribe the matters which may be dealt with in SG, but there is no proposal to do this. It would be difficult for any list of topics to foresee the variety of issues that may arise in the future or the individual local issues to which SG could respond. We are not therefore proposing to be prescriptive either as to the topics that may be dealt with through supplementary guidance or the form that consultation should take. Authorities should feel confident that this a useful and viable way of efficiently removing a wide range of detailed policy material from SDPs and LDPs. The best ways of reaching those people likely to be affected by any guidance will vary from case to case. However, there needs to be a means of ensuring that the principles of good public involvement and a proper connection with the SDP or LDP have been achieved consistently, and we propose that this will be through scrutiny by Scottish Ministers at the pre-adoption stage.
Q15 Given its enhanced status, should the draft regulations (as opposed to advice) say more about the content and procedures for adopting supplementary guidance?