Planning Permission: Appeals
(asked on 17th November 2014) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many appeals to the Planning Inspectorate have taken (a) up to 30 days, (b) up to 60 days, (c) up to 90 days and (d) more than 90 days to reach a decision in each of the last five years.
The Government has been undertaking a series of technical steps to help speed up the handling of planning appeals. The table below gives figures for planning appeals decided between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014.
Number of decisions | Up to 30 days | Over 30 days and | Over 60 days and | More than 90 Days |
2009-10 | 297 | 1,858 | 1,669 | 14,306 |
2010-11 | 375 | 4,285 | 1,278 | 10,657 |
2011-12 | 412 | 4,253 | 1,617 | 8,999 |
2012-13 | 347 | 3,603 | 938 | 9,239 |
2013-14 | 449 | 3,345 | 943 | 9,837 |
Note: Figures refer to planning appeal decisions. Timing is measured from the start date for the appeal to the date the decision letter is published.
To place this information in the context of the Planning Inspectorate’s performance targets, in 2013-14, 88 per cent of (qualifying) planning appeals were determined within the goal of 26 weeks. 84 per cent of householder appeals were determined within 8 weeks of the start date, compared to a target of 80 per cent.
The most common reasons for planning appeals taking longer than 26 weeks are (a) the appellants or local authorities are unavailable for the hearing or site visit forcing it to be postponed, and (b) a hearing is adjourned due to new evidence emerging that requires further examination.