The Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) (Scotland) Rules 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend and replace the Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) (Scotland) Rules 1980, which are revoked, subject to the transitional provisions contained in rule 25(2).

The Rules prescribe the procedures to be followed at local inquiries held for the purpose of any application referred to the Secretary of State or any appeal made to the Secretary of State under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997, other than appeals which fall to be determined by a person appointed for the purpose by the Secretary of State rather than the Secretary of State himself.

The principal changes made by these Rules as are as follows:–

(a) the Rules no longer apply to the conduct of hearings for the purposes of those Acts. A non-statutory Code of Practice for Hearings has been published separately by The Scottish Office;

(b) in the case of an appeal, the planning authority must complete a questionnaire and return it to the Secretary of State, together with copies of documents relating to the case;

(c) in order to make more effective use of pre-inquiry time the Rules require that, wherever possible, the timescales for pre-inquiry procedures, for example the submission and circulation of parties' statements of case, are fixed by forward reference from the date when it is decided that the case will go to inquiry – the “relevant date”;

(d) rules 5 and 6 provide a statutory framework for the holding of pre-inquiry meetings;

(e) rule 7(2)(b) requires planning authorities to include as part of their statement of case a list of the conditions (if any) which they presently consider should be imposed on any grant of planning permission by the Secretary of State;

(f) rule 8 places a statutory obligation on the applicant to disclose at an early stage the principal basis of his case. In addition, rule 9 enables the Secretary of State or the reporter to require any other party who has notified an intention to attend the inquiry to submit a statement of case prior to the commencement of that inquiry;

(g) where a party intends to give evidence at an inquiry by reference to a precognition – a written statement of the evidence they shall give – and that precognition exceeds 2,000 words, rule 12 imposes a statutory requirement on that party to submit a written summary of the precognition. Further, where a summary is provided only that summary shall be read out at the inquiry, although parties may be questioned on the content of their whole precognition;

(h) rule 14 provides for the Secretary of State to notify the appointment of an assessor to persons entitled to appear at the inquiry;

(i) rule 15 provides that the start date for the inquiry shall be not later than 24 weeks after the relevant date or, where a pre-inquiry meeting is held, not later than 8 weeks after the conclusion of that meeting, unless the Secretary of State considers such a date impracticable;

(j) rule 19 provides that the applicant shall normally begin and shall have the final right of reply at the inquiry. This rule also clarifies the reporter’s powers to restrict the giving of evidence which is repetitious or irrelevant;

(k) under rule 21 the reporter is no longer obliged to circulate in draft Part I of his report to the Secretary of State.

There are also a number of minor and drafting amendments, as well as necessary updating of references to relevant legislation.

A copy of the appeals questionnaire referred to in these rules may be obtained from the Scottish Office Inquiry Reporters Unit, 2 Greenside Lane, Edinburgh EH1 3AG.