CER01 – Financial Savings 2023-24 – Planning and Building Standards Fees
| Title | CER01 – Financial Savings 2023-24 – Planning and Building Standards Fees |
|---|---|
| Council Resource | Community and Enterprise |
| Aims and Objectives | The aim of this assessment is to consider the impact in South Lanarkshire of introducing a charge for: - non-material variations (fixed fee) - estimated income for year £4,500 - discharge of conditions (fixed fee) - estimated income £61,300 - 25% surcharge on retrospective applications – estimated income £6,000 These additional charges will result in around £72,000 of additional income. |
| Conclusion | The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 sets out the fees which an authority can charge for the submission of a planning application. The Regulations also bring into effect provisions from the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 which allow authorities to expand on the range of services for which they can charge, waive or reduce fees and apply a surcharge to retrospective applications. The Scottish Government undertook a range of consultation which influenced these regulations. The consultation undertaken between December 2019 and February 2020 considered that an EQIA, CRWIA, SEA, Fairer Scotland Duty or an Islands Impact Assessment were not required, and the majority of respondents supported this conclusion. The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (legislation.gov.uk) Local authorities across the country are under financial pressure and planning departments have felt the effects of this with reductions in budgets and ultimately staff numbers. Although the overall resourcing of the planning service is a matter for local authorities, planning fees have an important role in ensuring that applicants rather than the tax payer help to cover the cost of determining applications. The introduction of discretionary charging will help rover the cost of ancillary tasks associated with the planning process. |
| Completion date | 22/2/23 |
| Contact Email address | equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk |