JOHN SWINNEY, the cabinet secretary for finance and sustainable growth, has put efforts to revolutionise the culture of Scottish planning at the top of the Scottish government's agenda for its second year in office.

Speaking to the Sunday Herald after the official opening of Duart House, a new unit in Motherwell's Strathclyde Business Park, Swinney said that the government was on the brink of unveiling a detailed strategy to end Scottish business's perennial dissatisfaction with the planning system.

"I will be advancing a whole series of initiatives that are designed to change the culture within planning, to make it much more predicated on saying yes, but' and on making things happen. We want to encourage a process whereby we get people to a stage of decision-making much earlier, much more quickly and much more efficiently. This will involve participation by government, by local authorities and the agencies of government into the bargain."

Swinney said that the new measures would "take forward" the progress of the previous Scottish Executive, which culminated in the planning act passed by the Scottish parliament in 2006. He said that SNP measures would go further, involving steps to resolve "cultural questions" that were continuing to block progress and frustrate development.

Swinney also issued a veiled warning to local councils perceived to be underperforming on planning issues, hinting that their efficiency in processing applications would be subject to increased government scrutiny.

"Planning is raised with me by, frankly, everybody involved in the system whatever their perspective," he said. "I have had interesting conversations with the developers of this business park today about local authority attitudes to planning.

"I have been made aware of the councils that developers enjoy doing business with, who are on the side of making things happen and on the side of economic growth, and also have been made aware of the authorities who still have some distance to go. This is very important intelligence for me, to discover which of our authorities can become real allies of business.

"We have all the documents we require on this and you will be hearing from me in the next few weeks about the focused actions we are taking to improve the efficiency and dynamism of the planning system.

"What we are proposing will undoubtedly change the way that resources are used at local authority level, meaning that much less time will be taken up with the Dormadormer windows of this world ie, minor house alterations that currently get as much scrutiny as a major industrial process application.

"That will change, and the planning regime will free up resources to make sure that the significant priorities get addressed."

David Watt, director of the Institute of Directors Scotland, said that he was "enormously encouraged" by the tone of Swinney's attack on planning culture.

"He seems to be going far beyond what the previous administration was prepared to say. I am already encouraged, and hope to be excited in the future, as there isn't a single business person in Scotland who does not have problems with the existing planning system.

"Since it came to power the SNP government has had a rude awakening on the deficiencies of the system, through such matters as the Trump development and the Macdonald estate in Aviemore. In my view the SNP has not quite lived up to its promises of radical decluttering, but if it really can deliver a better planning system, that will count as a major step forward."