Councillor Alan Lafferty and Councillor Stewart Miller (East Renfrewshire Council); Bailie Glenn Elder (Glasgow City Council); Councillor Jim Clocherty (Inverclyde Council); Councillor Alistair Fulton (South Lanarkshire Council); and Councillor Lawrence O’Neill (West Dunbartonshire Council).

Councillor O’Neill, Convener, presided.

S Tait, Strategic Development Plan Manager and D McDonald, Assistant Strategic Development Plan Manager (both Strategic Development Plan Core Team); S Taylor, Principal Planner (Glasgow City Council); L Bowden, Business Manager (Strategic Planning) (North Lanarkshire Council); K Festorazzi, Senior Accountant and E Currie, Senior Committee Services Officer (both Renfrewshire Council); T Finn, Planning and Building Services Headquarters Manager (South Lanarkshire Council) and S Afzal, Senior Auditor (Audit Scotland).

The Convener intimated that there was an additional item in relation to the Glasgow and The Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority Joint Committee which had not been included in the notice calling the meeting. The Convener, being of the opinion that the item, which is dealt with at item 7 below, was urgent in view of the need to advise members of the position, authorised its consideration.

There was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager requesting that consideration be given to the commencement of the process for the formal dissolution of the Joint Committee. 

The report intimated that the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 placed a duty on local authorities in relation to strategic planning and in light of this the role and remit of the Joint Committee required to be reviewed.  

It was recognised that all eight Glasgow City Region local authorities currently involved with the Glasgow and The Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority Joint Committee wished to continue to contribute towards the strategic planning of the City Region. The report recommended that in the first instance the Joint Committee agree to work being undertaken to identify future governance arrangements for the Joint Committee’s functions including dissolution of the Joint Committee and request that the Clerk write to member councils to inform them of the Joint Committee’s position on this matter.

DECIDED:

(a) That work to explore the future governance arrangements for the performance of the functions undertaken by the Joint Committee including the formal dissolution of the Joint Committee be supported; 

(b) That the Clerk write to member authorities to inform them of the Joint Committee’s decision; 

(c) That it be noted that further reports would be brought to future meetings of the Joint Committee in relation to the future of strategic planning across the Glasgow and Clyde Valley Area; and

(d) That it be noted that Glasgow City Council, working with the current host authority, Renfrewshire Council, would implement a governance structure to manage the dissolution process and consider the continued contribution of the member authorities towards the strategic planning function.

Councillor Denis Johnston and Councillor Alan Moir (both East Dunbartonshire Council); Councillor Kenny MacLean (Glasgow City Council); Councillor David Wilson (Inverclyde Council); Councillor Harry Curran and Councillor Agnes Magowan (both North Lanarkshire Council); Councillor Tom Begg (Renfrewshire Council); Councillor John Anderson (South Lanarkshire Council); and Councillor Jonathan McColl (West Dunbartonshire Council).

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 9 December 2019.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a joint revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Strategic Development Plan Manager for the period 1 April 2019 to 28 February 2020. 

The report intimated that gross expenditure was currently £89,000 underspent and income was currently £136,000 under-recovered resulting in a net overspend of £47,000.  The projected year-end position was an overspend of £51,000 due to the partial return of requisitions in 2019/20, which had been offset with budgets not being able to be utilised due to the delay in the approval and direction of travel of the Strategic Development Plan and an over-recovery in income.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to Audit Scotland’s annual audit plan 2019/20 for the Joint Committee which outlined Audit Scotland’s planned activities in their audit for the 2019/20 financial year, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The report intimated that, based on analysis of the risks facing the Joint Committee, Audit Scotland had submitted an audit plan which outlined its approach to the audit of the Joint Committee’s 2019/20 annual accounts to assess whether the accounts provided a true and fair view of the Joint Committee’s financial position and also whether the accounts had been prepared in accordance with proper accounting practice, the 2019 Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the UK.

The annual audit plan outlined the responsibilities of the Joint Committee and Audit Scotland; an assessment of key challenges and risks; the approach and timetable for completion of the audit; and included a section on Audit Risks which had been included in the audit plans of many bodies which Audit Scotland worked with.   The inclusion of this section was not a reflection of any specific risk within the Joint Committee.

The Senior Auditor, Audit Scotland, focussed on three sections of the audit plan being the risks identified in Exhibit 1, materiality and the audit fee. 

DECIDED: That Audit Scotland’s annual audit plan 2019/20 be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to Clydeplan’s Annual Report 2019, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The Annual Report provided an overview of the work undertaken by Clydeplan during 2019 under the broad headings of Clydeplan Joint Committee; Strategic Development Plan Action Programme; Glasgow City Region; Planning (Scotland) Act - Regional Spatial Strategies: and the priorities and issues affecting the future work of Clydeplan. 

DECIDED: That the Annual Report 2019, as set out in the appendix to the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the Clydeplan Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2020/21, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that as part of the requirements of the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006, planning authorities were expected to publish a Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement and review it on an annual basis. Clydeplan published its first Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement on 31 March 2009, with subsequent revisions published annually in March. 

The Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2020/21 reflected the current position in respect of the recent Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, enacted in July 2019, which removed the statutory requirement to prepare a Strategic Development Plan and replaced it with a duty on local authorities to prepare a Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). The RSS would not form part of the statutory Development Plan which would now comprise the National Planning Framework and the Local Development Plan. 

In support of the development of National Planning Framework 4, local authorities were required to prepare an indicative RSS for submission to the Scottish Government by June 2020.  Local authorities were to determine what the indicative RSS would comprise and how they would collaborate in its production. 

It was noted that guidance and regulations would be produced, informed by the process of producing an indicative RSS, to enact the duty to produce an RSS in 2021 following the approval of National Planning Framework 4.  Clydeplan and Glasgow City Region were committed to supporting the development of both the National Planning Framework 4 and RSS guidance.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2020/21, as set out in the appendix to the report, be adopted; and 

(b) That the Strategic Development Plan Manager make the necessary arrangements for publication and distribution to all local libraries throughout the city region, on Clydeplan’s website and to Scottish Ministers.

There was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the Scottish Government’s early engagement in relation to the development of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and their request for local authorities to work together to develop an indicative Regional Spatial Strategy (iRSS) for their area.

The report intimated that the iRSS would help inform NPF4 so that initial strategic priorities could be built into the emerging new Development Plan.  

NPF4 would consider what Scotland should look like in 2050; set out national planning policies; guide where future development should take place; be supported by a delivery plan and aligned to Scotland’s Infrastructure Investment Plan and Strategic Transport Projects Review.  The draft NPF4 would be laid before the Scottish Parliament in September 2020 for formal parliamentary scrutiny and any revised version would be taken back to Parliament in 2021 for approval before being adopted by Scottish Ministers.  

To inform this process the Scottish Government were embarking on a consultation process and had identified the priorities that planning should focus on.  These priorities were consistent with those proposed for consideration as part of the refresh of the City Region’s Regional Economic Strategy and broadly similar to the current themes set out in the approved Clydeplan SDP. As Scotland’s only metropolitan area, comprising a third of Scotland’s population, generating a third of its GVA and with 40% of its vacant and derelict land, it was important that the role, function and potential of the Glasgow City Region was reflected in NPF4 to support not only the economic, social and environmental ambitions of the City Region itself but also those of Scotland nationally.

To assist the preparation of NPF4, the Scottish Government were looking for local authorities, working together, to produce an iRSS which should comprise of a map or diagram of the regional spatial priorities supported by a brief supporting narrative. There was no guidance or prescription on what an iRSS should comprise as the formal statutory duty to produce an RSS had not yet been enacted.  The Scottish Government considered this to be a matter for local authorities to self-determine

The Scottish Government would host an event on 1 April 2020 where it was anticipated that each regional grouping would provide an update on their work to date and an outline of their initial outputs with the finalised iRSS being submitted by the end of June 2020 to help inform preparation of NPF4. It was noted that, as previously agreed, the current eight Clydeplan local planning authorities would continue to work together to undertake this work on behalf of the Glasgow City Region.

The Clydeplan Strategic Development Plan (SDP), approved by Scottish Ministers in July 2017 and which had been subject to a failed legal challenge in March 2018, currently set out the Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) for the Glasgow City Region.  Given the currency of the SDP and the SDS, particularly in relation to ongoing Local Development Plan preparation, the report proposed that any iRSS for NPF4 was seen as a refinement of the existing SDS rather than a fundamental change of approach to the strategy itself. It was important that the key policy drivers that underpinned the current SDP and SDS continued to be reflected in NPF4.

The report detailed the key spatial priorities within the Clyde Mission, announced in January 2020 at the Glasgow State of City Conference by the then Cabinet Secretary. It was intended that the ‘Clyde Mission’ would give a renewed place based approach to maximising the full potential of the River Clyde including the identification of opportunities for business growth and jobs, reuse of vacant and derelict land whilst realising the potential of the river to help address climate change issues.  

The timeline for sign off of the iRSS was detailed in the report.

DECIDED:

(a) That the approach to the development of the iRSS and the identification of the key spatial priorities detailed in the report be noted;

(b) That the Glasgow City Region be represented by the Clydeplan Manager, Assistant Manager, the Glasgow City Region Land Use and Sustainability portfolio lead officer and the Glasgow City Region’s Director of Regional Economic Growth and that they attend the Scottish Government’s iRSS session on 1st April; and, 

(b) That the timeline for the iRSS sign off process from both a Clydeplan Joint Committee and Glasgow City Region perspective be noted and that it be agreed that an additional meeting of the Joint Committee be held on 11 May 2020 to facilitate this process.

DECIDED: That it be noted that, following the additional meeting of this Joint Committee agreed earlier in the meeting for 11 May 2020, the next scheduled meeting of this Joint Committee would be held at 11.15 am on 8 June 2020 in the offices of Glasgow City Council.