Planning Enforcement Charter 2024-2026

The Planning Enforcement Charter ("the Charter") is the Council's policy statement updated every two years, setting out how the Council will deliver a planning enforcement service for the city.   The document is also a user manual for stakeholders explaining the processes, powers and policies which shall be applied in dealing with enforcement matters as well as the service pledges and standards which the Council aims to achieve. 

The Charter will explain the decision-making processes through which alleged breaches are assessed in order to ensure consistency, transparency and expediency in all our actions.

The majority of planning enforcement investigations involve the following alleged breaches, which may require planning permission:

• Building or engineering works.
• Changes of use of land or buildings.
• Development which has not been carried out in accordance with an approved planning permission.
• Failure to comply with a condition of planning permission or a legal agreement attached to a planning permission.

Building works which have been substantially completed for more than four years will be immune from enforcement action.  Changes of use generally will be immune if they have existed continuously for more than ten years, as will be any breach of a condition which has been attached to an earlier planning permission.  This may be confirmed as lawful through certification of this claim.

An Enforcement Notice "stops the clock" towards immunity being reached, although the length of existence of the development may be disputed and challenged as a ground of appeal that at the time the Notice was served the development was immune from enforcement action.  

Reports of breaches should state what has happened or is currently happening and when works or activities possibly requiring planning permission commenced. The identity of the person(s) believed to be responsible and any contact details if available should be made known. We require photographs of work in progress as these can assist greatly in determining the problem. Complaints lacking in a reasonable level of detail to commence the investigation will be referred back, and if further detail is not provided, the case will be closed. 

Complaints can be registered by completing the on-line complaint form. Click here to open the form Planning Enforcement Complaint Form.

Complaints can also be made by post although there will be delay in processing these due to reduced numbers working in the office.  

Information which is a minimum requirement:      

As much detail as possible regarding how the breach affects you:  

• The address of the property concerned;
• Details of the suspected breach of planning control;    
• Your name, home address and telephone number
• As well as the above, please note: complainants using the online form must supply a working email address. This will be checked and if incorrect or given falsely the investigation will not proceed.

Necessary information (unless it cannot be provided for a valid reason):

• Dated electronic photographs to assist with assessment
• Measurements of any building which can be provided reasonably accurately or as an estimate, without compromising your own safety or the privacy of the person responsible.
• Dates and hours of operation of any alleged unauthorised use over a minimum of two weeks

The contact address is given below:

Planning Enforcement Team
Neighbourhoods and Regeneration Services (NRS)
231 George Street
Glasgow  G1 1RX

If you do not live within proximity of the breach and are therefore not affected by the breach directly, this will affect the priority with which your case is given (depending on the severity of the breach); although exception will be made for complaints made on behalf of any person who has difficulty in complaining directly. 

Multiple complaints reporting cases of a similar kind within a street or a wider area, will not be accepted as these place an excessive burden on the service.  

A service standard is a public commitment to a measurable level of performance that stakeholders can expect under normal circumstances. 

The following service standards are consistent with the priorities and objectives of the service. Performance in relation to the service standards will be monitored and reviewed over the life of the Charter which expires in April 2024.

Service Standards

Performance in relation to the service standards will be monitored and reviewed over the life of the Charter which expires in April 2024.

Service Standard 1

This standard ensures that once the complaint form is received  electronically (in the majority of cases) or by post, the case is logged quickly and complainants are provided confirmation that sufficient information has been received to open the investigation; or, to detail what additional evidence we require to open the case. In instances where additional information is required, complainants will be given 20 working days to provide this, or the case will be closed.

Once sufficient information has been received to confirm the logging of a new case, we will aim to confirm this in writing within 5 working days of the additional information being provided.

Service Standard 2

While we require evidence to be submitted in the majority of cases, a site visit will be arranged where considered necessary to progress matters. When this is required, we will aim to conduct a site visit within 20 working days from the point at which a case is has been allocated to an officer.

If a site visit is not considered necessary due to the evidence submitted, the officer will process the case based on the information submitted.

Service Standard 3

This requires visits to High Priority cases as a matter of urgency, hence a priority visit is necessary and we will aim to conduct this on a same or next day basis.  

Service Standard 4 (Planning Impact Reports)

The Council has statutory powers to investigate breaches of planning control and to take formal action where a satisfactory outcome cannot be achieved by negotiations. Enforcement, however, is a discretionary power. That means, even where there is a breach of planning control, the Council has to consider if it is in the public interest to take enforcement action. The Council is not required to take any particular action on a specific breach of planning control if it determines it is not necessary or in the public interest to do so.

Building on the success of Planning Impact Reports over the life of the last two charters, which provide customers with clarity regarding what action, if any, is considered necessary, these have been retained for this charter and are detailed below. We aim to issue a Planning Impact Report within 2 to 6 months depending on the priority of the case.

• PIR (CAT A): Enforcement Action Necessary
  The development causes serious planning harm which requires formal action to be taken.
• PIR (CAT B): Submission of an application is required
  The development may be acceptable subject to mitigating conditions. Therefore a retrospective planning application will be required.
• PIR (CAT C): Minor technical breach of planning control
  Planning permission is technically required, but it is not in the public interest to pursue the matter further.
• PIR (CAT D): No breach of planning control
  The alleged breach does not require planning permission and therefore the case will be closed.

• PIR (CAT E): Interim Response
  There will be occasions when it proves impossible or impractical to conclude upon either of the four categories above, most typically because there is insufficient information to reach a conclusion.  In these circumstances the Planning Impact Report will detail the reason for the delay and will indicate the likely timescale for a response.  

Challenging the Outcome of a PIR

There is no formal right of appeal against the assessment provided within the PIR; therefore in the majority of cases the decision will be final.  An exception to this rule will be where an allegation of factual inaccuracy of any point contained within the PIR assessment would provide reasonable grounds for reconsideration of the outcome, although any claim to this effect would have to be substantiated through the submission of evidence to the contradict the initial finding.  

Service Standard 5

We aim to provide a further update within 8 months of the date of confirmation of the investigation with CAT A, CAT B and CAT E cases.

Where the Council has committed to take further action, there is a need to ensure that targets are put in place to ensure that the commitment is achieved.   Therefore, where a CAT A commitment has been given take enforcement action, a CAT B to require a planning application, or in some cases a CAT E, there is a new target in this Charter to update the complainant within 8 months of the date of confirmation of the case.  

This should provide sufficient time to enable for the appropriate actions to be taken and update the complainant accordingly or to advise why there has been a delay and provide a date when the action will be taken.

The Council aims to provide a planning enforcement service which the public will be satisfied with. If, however, you have any suggestions for improvement, concerns or difficulties, this Service would like to hear from you. The Council is committed to improving our service and dealing promptly with the cause of a complaint. This Service will investigate all complaints made about the way an enforcement enquiry was dealt with. Whilst some people may disagree with the outcome of an investigation, that in itself is not grounds for complaint about the service provided.

A complaint, not about the factual outcome of the case but of the manner in which it has been handled, may be made in relation to the Council's Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP), although this can only be made on the following grounds:

• Delays in responding to your enquiries and requests
• Failure to provide a service
• Our standard of service
• Treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
• Our failure to follow proper enforcement procedures (as laid down in this Planning Enforcement Charter).

In the first instance, complaints about the enforcement service should be discussed with the member of staff involved. If you are dissatisfied, please contact the Principal Planner Enforcement Officer under the Stage 1 procedure, using this link

If you are still dissatisfied with the advice provided, you can ask for the name of a more senior officer who will investigate the matter under the Stage 2 procedure. If you are not satisfied with these responses, you can pursue the formal Council complaint procedure. This is detailed on the Council's website at this link.

It is important to emphasise that hedges do not constitute development and therefore a person responsible for a high hedge is not in breach of planning control.  

Powers relating to the control of high hedges are not provided under planning legislation but under The High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013 ("the Act"), which came into force on 1 April 2014. The Act aims to provide a solution to the problem of high hedges where neighbours have not been able to resolve their dispute amicably.  Given the nature of the disputes and the similar "infrastructure" and skill sets required in dealing with the overall process, Glasgow City Council has decided that its Planning Enforcement Team is the best placed for dealing with any assessments required and applications made under the Act. 

A hedge is defined by the Act as being formed of a row of two or more trees and shrubs which exceed two metres in height and form a barrier to light. It should be noted however, that revised guidance was issued in 2019 which states that this is only the minimum possible criteria for a high hedge. Other factors will also determine whether a hedge will be subject to a Notice, such as whether protected birds, animals or plants would be affected by works to the hedge, the past and current management of the trees and shrubs and that the spacing of trees and shrubs are consistent with traditional hedge planting. If these criteria are all fulfilled, the applicant may approach the Council to consider service of a High Hedge Notice. The applicant is, however, under an obligation to take reasonable steps to resolve the high hedge dispute before making an application to the Council.

As stated above, responsibility for processing applications in relation to the Act has been given to the Planning Enforcement Team. A fee of £500 is required to be paid for the council to validate an application. Where the decision is made to serve a High Hedge Notice, the owner and applicant (in instances where there is a belief the Notice instructions are insufficient) both have the right of appeal to the Scottish Government. The applicant also has the right of appeal when a Notice is not served.

Where a High Hedge Notice has been served and takes effect, the owner of the hedge is required to remedy the problem and prevent it occurring. Beyond the initial action, annual maintenance is considered reasonable action to prevent the hedge reoccurring, as the requirements of the Notice are in effect in perpetuity. The Act allows the Council to undertake work where owners fail to comply with the High Hedge Notice with the costs of the work being recoverable from the hedge owner.

• The Council has guidance available on its webpage here.
• The Scottish Governments guide for local authorities is available here.

The Council recognises that it is expensive to make a formal application, but that there are reasons for this.  Any Notice which is confirmed has its requirements remain in perpetuity and this in itself places a burden on the Council in terms of the potential for ongoing actions. There are also right of appeal on both sides, from the applicant and the High Hedge Owner.

To assist in clarifying this situation prior to making an application, the Council provides a free assessment of any concern regarding the potential for making a High Hedge application.   This entails a site visit and assessment confirming that the situation is appropriate, or not, for making an application and full detailed guidance is given to the person who is considering making an application,  However, this should not be considered as a substitute for making an application as no communications will be sent to the owner of the hedge advising of any action - the Council will not mediate between two parties, although the potential applicant will be reminded of their own duty to attempt formally to resolve the situation with the hedge owner prior to submitting an application.

The process for requesting an assessment is the same as making an enforcement complaint, online or in writing.   In the same way it is necessary to satisfy the requirements as stated in relation to submitting a report of a breach of planning control, but instead identifying the impact of the hedge in terms of the enjoyment of your residential amenity.

All Appendices for Our Powers, Guiding Principles and Service Pledges can be found below:

• Appendix 1: Planning Enforcement Powers
• Appendix 2: The Principles Underlying Good Planning Enforcement
• Appendix 3: Planning Enforcement Services Pledges
• Appendix 4: Additional Sources of Information
• Appendix 5: Key Contacts