Before section 271 of the principal Act insert—

“270BEqual opportunities

(1)

The Scottish Ministers and planning authorities must perform their functions under this Act in a manner which encourages equal opportunities and in particular the observance of the equal opportunity requirements.

(2)

“Equal opportunities” and “equal opportunity requirements” have the same meanings in this section as they have in Section L2 of Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46).”.