Council planning budget cuts 'leading Scots to miss out on homes'

Labour has accused the Scottish Government of causing families to miss out on housing due to cuts to council planning budgets.

The party said local authorities have slashed funding by 27% since 2010/2011, which in turn has caused increases in delays to building developments.

Labour said the National Benchmarking Overview Report, which published the figures, makes clear that due to the Government earmarking funds for specific priorities, local authorities are being forced to inflict disproportionate cuts in other areas.

The current waiting time for permission to build to be granted by councils is around 17 weeks, Labour said.

Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: “Under the SNP, local planning departments have been stripped to the bone, undermining councils’ ability to deal with the housing crisis.

“Housing security is the first step to building a stable and thriving community but we won’t be able to tackle the housing emergency if we are unable to build the homes that local families need.

“In England, the UK Labour Government will streamline the planning system while empowering councils to make decisions at a local level.

“For too long, Scots have been let down by a broken status quo – that is why Scottish Labour has set out plans to reform the planning system in Scotland to speed up decision times and unlock housebuilding, helping ensure everyone has a safe and secure place to call home.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has made available record funding of over £14bn to local councils in 2024-25 – a real-terms increase of 2.5% compared with the previous year.

“This follows on from the 3% real-terms increase provided to Local Government in 2023-24.

“While the resourcing of local authority planning services is ultimately a matter for the authorities, the Scottish Government has already significantly reformed Scotland’s planning system, substantially increasing planning fees two years ago, and recently consulted on further changes to both increase the financial resources available to authorities and to make the planning system more efficient.

“We are now focused on ensuring planning authorities have the capacity and skills to improve consistency and increase confidence and certainty in the planning process.”