We want more people living in Scotland to enjoy the benefits of everyday walking. One way to achieve this is to influence the development and delivery of national policy.
We are working to improve policies that support our main strategic themes:
- Walking is for everyone
- Walking is for everywhere
- Walking is for every day
We do this by engaging with policy development and consultations, briefings, participation in forums or working groups, cross party groups in the Parliament and by working with our partners and other stakeholders to influence change.
This is against a background of increased emphasis on the need to address climate change, embrace Net Zero and a growing commitment to promoting walking, wheeling and cycling. This is reflected in the number of consultations relating to active travel. We have also seen the publishing of the National Planning Framework 4 – and we are now witnessing its influence on planning policies, development plans and the adoption of the 20-minute neighbourhood concept.
We spent some time reflecting on our work throughout 2023 and our responses to consultations:
In 2023, we responded to a total of 85 consultations, compared with 65 in 2022. 34 responses were national in their focus. Our responses to national consultations allow us to delve deeper. Whilst we respond to local consultations where we can, we might not always have the local knowledge required to give a more detailed response, relying on the positive relationships and work we do with partner organisations and community groups to inform us as fully as possible
13 of our 2023 responses were directly to the Scottish Government, including the draft planning guidance for local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods, the visitor levy bill, and the review of permitted development rights.
51 of the responses were at a local level, mostly to local authorities. 19 local authorities have been represented identifying an opportunity to increase our geographical reach and represent all 32 where possible.
There were two regional responses – relating to Regional Transport Partnership (RTP) regional transport strategies.
An interactive visualisation of our local work can be seen below:
When we are aware of an upcoming policy consultation, we will decide whether to respond based on its relevance to our work and the merit our response may have on positively steering the outcome. Our priorities are driven by our Step It Up strategy and whether the consultation is national or local in interest.
A summary of some key pieces of work can be found below:
Transport/active travel strategies:
- The call for evidence from the cross-party group on sustainable transport – see our response here
- Broxburn to Maybury Public Transport and Active Travel Improvements
- The Transport Scotland Young Person’s Free Bus Travel Scheme Stakeholder Survey
- Hairmyres Transport Interchange
Pavement parking:
- Scotland’s Pavement Parking Prohibitions - Consultation on Enforcement Regulations for Local Authorities
National parks:
- Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Draft National Park Partnership Plan 2024-29
- Scottish Government New National Parks Appraisal Framework
- Cairngorms Active Cairngorms Action Plan
Planning and guidance on 20-minute neighbourhoods:
- 20-minute neighbourhood project - Portobello
- Scottish Government Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods: draft planning guidance
Five local development plans:
- Falkirk
- Moray
- Glasgow City Council – Drumchapel
- West Dunbartonshire
Regional Transport Strategies:
- Strathclyde Partnership for Transport – Regional Active Travel Strategy
- Tactran – Consultation draft of a new Regional Transport Strategy
Looking ahead to the next year, we plan to increase the visibility of our policy and data work with updates to our webpages, and regular progress updates about how we’re working to shape a happier, healthier and greener Scotland. In time, visitors to the website will find information including current consultations, our views relating to each, and how we have responded.
We are keen to engage with partners and other stakeholders in this work, and encourage you to become involved in the development of relevant policies.
Find out more about our influence here:
Explore our dedicated Evidence and Data page here.