Scotland's planning authorities make the country's small firms wait much longer for a decision than rivals south of the border despite official pledges to speed up the system, sector champions claimed.

Scotland's planning authorities make the country's small firms wait much longer for a decision than rivals south of the border despite official pledges to speed up the system, sector champions claimed.

The Federation of Small Businesses said a study by the watchdog Audit Scotland found that less than half of all applications that did not involve householders were dealt with within two months in Scotland in 2007-08.

By contrast in England around 75% of applications were considered within two months.

The Federation is concerned that efforts to speed up the planning process in Scotland seemed to be having little effect. Some 43.6% of applications were dealt with within two months in the latest year, compared with 45.4% in 2006-07 and 44.6% in 2005-06.

Andy Willox, Scottish policy convener of the FSB, said: "The FSB in Scotland has for years been asking why the English planning system is so much more responsive in dealing with non-domestic planning applications.

"But, despite the efforts which have been put into improving the system north of the border, the figures still aren't moving in the right direction."

Warning that the system seems to be acting as a barrier to much-needed economic growth, he added: "The answer to this problem is not to make it easier for supermarkets to build massive new stores wherever they please, it's to get local authorities to take modest, routine applications from small firms as seriously as they take loft conversions."

Willox said he had written to the Scottish Government's chief planner, Jim Mackinnon, asking what might be done to address the anomaly revealed by the Audit Scotland figures.

The figures also show that in Glasgow 46% of applications were dealt with within two months, compared with 50.1% in Edinburgh.