Consultation process

In November 2021, we laid our fourth Draft National Planning Framework (Draft NPF4) in the Scottish Parliament for Parliamentary scrutiny. Alongside Parliamentary consideration of the draft, we will be running a public consultation to gather views and evidence and would welcome comments from all to help inform the final NPF4.

The Draft NPF4 is not the start of the process. It builds on two previous rounds of engagement - the Call for Ideas and the Position Statement.

The Scottish Parliament will be considering the Draft NPF4 for a period of up to 120 days. It is for the Parliament to determine the process for that scrutiny period and it is likely that certain stakeholders will be asked to contribute to those processes.

Following this period, we will consider responses to the Draft before presenting a final draft to the Scottish Parliament.

Taking part in the consultation

We are encouraging everyone to get involved in the consultation, to help shape the final NPF4. The consultation is open until 31 March 2022. The Consultation Resources page provides a series of resources to help inform your response, details of events and community grants to help you get involved.

We have set a series of consultation questions to help focus on the key areas of change. Whilst you are welcome to do so, there is no requirement to provide information on every question posed. We welcome your input no matter how small or focused.

Submitting your responses

We encourage you, wherever possible, to use the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space consultation portal to respond to us. 

Should that not be possible, please email your response to us at scotplan@gov.scot. If sending by email, please also submit a completed Respondent Information Form - WORD (90KB) which lets us know how to treat your response.

We have provided the consultation questions in Word Format should you find that useful when drafting your response prior to submitting to us.

• consultation questions - WORD (784KB)

Community Grant Scheme

We are supporting communities to engage locally through a small grants scheme to assist in responding to the consultation:

• This can be used to support practical arrangements for community discussions e.g. caring costs, catering, facilitation etc.
• Community groups can apply for a grant of up to £250
• See our small grants scheme flyer - PDF (270KB)

To apply for a community grant:

• Complete the grant application form - WORD (81KB).  The grant criteria is included at the start of the form.

Online Events

During January and February 2022, we will set up a series of facilitated online events to give stakeholders opportunities to hear more about the content of NPF4. The events will be informal and will focus on giving clear information to support the preparation of consultation responses.

5 locational events, each focused on one of the spatial focus areas as described in the draft NPF4:

• North and west coastal innovation – based on the Islands and Northern/Western coasts
• Northern revitalisation – based on the Highlands and parts of Argyll and Bute
• North east transition – based on the north east area
• Central urban transformation – based on the Central Belt and Ayrshire
• Southern sustainability – based on the Borderlands area.

4 thematic events, focused on the key themes of draft NPF4:

• Sustainable Places
• Liveable Places
• Productive Places
• Distinctive Places

Booking details, when available, will be published in our News section, and promoted through our twitter feed and e-alert system.

Participation Statement

Further details about the consultation and how we will engage can be found in our Participation Statement and Programme for Engagement - PDF (589KB).