How to develop a Local Good Food Nation Plan

A planning toolkit for Relevant Authorities and others implementing the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act

Download the toolkit PDF (2.5MB)

To support Relevant Authorities with the processes involved in developing their Local Good Food Nation (GFN) Plans and provide a set of resources to inform and support this work.

Relevant Authorities (Local Authorities and territorial Health Boards), who have a legislative duty to implement the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act, specifically those working on Local Good Food Nation Plans.

  • It includes a selection of downloadable resources to support Relevant Authorities with preparing, planning and publishing their Local Good Food Nation Plans.
  • It acts as an information repository to support Good Food Nation-related activities, and will be developed through several iterations, by incorporating ongoing feedback and suggestions for further resources from project partners and others.
  • It provides a timeline of the processes involved for the development of Local Good Food Nation Plans where these resources are broken down into, and arranged by, key stages and associated tasks.
  • It is designed to be easy to use with accessible cross-referencing, and searchable tags (such as resource type)

Timeline

Including key stages/tasks

Stage 1

Drafting

Bring together the right people, gather evidence, and develop a draft Good Food Nation plan that reflects the needs and priorities of your local area.

2026 – 2027

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Understand

This section provides a brief introduction to the ground breaking Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.

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Convene & collaborate

One of the first stages in writing a Plan is to identify relevant individuals and other organisations who can contribute to the process.

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Map & audit

Many strategies, initiatives, and indicators relevant to the GFN already exist within the strategic priorities, and work of, your relevant authority.

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Develop & review

This section explains how to produce a Local Good Food Nation Plan that meets legislative requirements.

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Draft Local Plan published for consultation

Stage 2

Consulting

Undertake your statutory
consultation, refine your Draft Plan and after scrutiny publish your Final Plan.

2027 – 2028

Note: Content for this stage is still in development, and we expect it to be published in winter 2026.

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Engage & reflect

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Revise (post-Consultation)

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Proposed Local Plan laid before RA

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Scrutinise

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Sign-off

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Final Local Plan published

Stage 3

Implementing

Put your plan into action, track progress against your commitments, and use what you learn to inform the next planning cycle.

2028 onwards

Note: Content for this stage is still in development, and we expect it to be published in spring 2027.

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Deliver & track

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Evaluate