News story

Webinar recording available: Getting started with 'Manage your appeals' digital service

The Planning Inspectorate held a webinar on 9 December 2025 to help local planning authorities (LPAs) get the most from the new 'Manage your appeals' digital service, which completed its nationwide rollout on 1 December 2025.

From:
Planning Inspectorate
Published
17 December 2025

The Planning Inspectorate held a webinar on 9 December 2025 to help local planning authorities (LPAs) get the most from the new ‘Manage your appeals’ digital service, which completed its nationwide rollout on 1 December 2025. 

The session provided a live demonstration of the service’s key features and answered questions from more than [number] LPA representatives across England. 

Watch the webinar 

The full recording is now available (Q&A section excluded - see comprehensive answers below): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp6zRgjG74c  

What the webinar covered 

The demonstration included: 

  • navigating the dashboard and viewing appeal information 
  • managing user accounts within your LPA 
  • completing and submitting questionnaires collaboratively 
  • accessing appellant documents and appeal forms 
  • understanding automated notifications 
  • viewing decided and withdrawn appeals 

Important actions for local planning authorities 

Update your decision notification letters 

We have revised the wording in the model notification notice. LPAs should review templates to ensure applicants and interested parties receive the correct information and URLs. This now includes signposting to a guidance page with a video explanation of the appeals process.  

Updated resources: 

You can update templates now. Redirects are in place between the old and new systems to help users find cases during the transition period. 

Check you have access 

All LPAs were onboarded by 1 December 2025. If you haven’t received onboarding emails: 

  1. Check your spam or junk folders 
  2. Contact customer services with your LPA details 

Key questions answered during the webinar 

Answers to the most commonly received questions are set out below. See the bottom of this article for a complete list of questions and responses from the webinar. 

When can we view appeal documents? 

Once the Planning Inspectorate validates an appeal, you can view full appeal details and appellant documents through your dashboard. During validation, only basic information is visible. 

Coming in April 2026: LPAs will be able to view appeal forms during the validation phase, eliminating the need for appellants to separately submit forms to LPAs. 

How do notifications work? 

Appeal updates are sent to your central LPA email address. Individual user email addresses only receive login codes for accessing the service. 

You’ll receive automated notifications at key stages: 

  • When a new appeal is submitted 
  • When the appeal is validated and started (with timetable) 
  • When the case status is updated 

You won’t receive a notification every time a document is added - you can log in at any time to check the latest status. 

Can multiple team members work on questionnaires? 

Yes. The questionnaire can be completed collaboratively: 

  • Progress is automatically saved after each question 
  • Colleagues can continue work started by others 
  • Questions don’t have to be answered in order 
  • You can save and return at any time 

All questions must be completed before submission. The summary page shows which sections remain outstanding. 

Do we still need to send documents to appellants? 

Appellants can automatically download your questionnaire and documents from their dashboard once reviewed and marked complete by Planning Inspectorate case officers. Documents are shared automatically through the service. 

However, current legislation still requires LPAs to submit documents directly to the appellant or agent. The Planning Inspectorate is working to change this requirement in future, which would remove the need for LPAs to send documents separately once they’re available digitally through the service. 

LPAs must continue to follow their usual redaction processes for any documents shared with appellants, as the Planning Inspectorate does not redact interested party comments received at the application stage. 

What about linked appeals? 

The ability to link related appeals (such as full planning and listed building consent for the same development) is planned for March 2026. 

Timeline for appeal types available on the new service 

Available now Available from 18 December Available later (January – March)
- Householder 
- Full Planning 
- Listed Buildings		 - Commercial 
- Adverts		 - Enforcement 
- Enforcement Listed Buildings
- Lawful Development Certificates

After April 2026, a number of features will be brought into the service including: 

  • Viewing appeal forms during validation 

  • Bulk document download functionality 

  • Enhanced search by appeal reference, LPA reference, and address 

  • Additional dashboard information (LPA reference numbers) 

Support and resources 

Contact customer services: 

Video tutorials covering system setup, navigation, and questionnaire completion are available on the Planning Inspectorate’s YouTube channel. 

Log in to the service: Manage your appeals 

Feedback welcome 

The Planning Inspectorate continues to develop the service based on user feedback. Use the feedback link within the service to share suggestions or recommendations for future improvements. 

For regular updates about the Planning Inspectorate’s services and upcoming webinars,  sign up for email alerts or follow the Planning Inspectorate on LinkedIn. 

Related content: 

Accessibility and inclusivity

Question Response
Is taking away the paper admission of appeals not discriminating against people who don’t have access to the Internet? A legal review was undertaken. For planning applications, people have usually done plans and engaged services, so they have access to internet and digital devices. Customer services and Citizens Advice are available to provide support. Our legal assessment concluded it doesn’t discriminate as long as alternatives are provided.
Will submitting comments via paper also be removed? We are not currently planning on removing paper comments. We anticipate that the service will make it sufficiently easy to encourage more users to choose to submit comments digitally. We will keep this under review.

Account management and access

Question Response
You have said we get a code when we need to login, as our email is the planning mailbox, does this mean we would need to get the code from the support section to login as planning officers do not have access to the inbox, or if we are added as a user would we be able to login using our own email address? You can add users to the LPA’s account. The user will receive their own login code sent to their mailbox each time they log in to the service.
We are a shared service with a central email address; can we access appeals for both councils via one log in? We are aware that some LPAs may share planning functions with another LPA or have staff at partner councils that support with planning. The service is designed to allow users to be added to the LPA with the same email domain.
We can support a manual workaround where we add a unique email address to our database to access the LPA even if this shares email domain with another LPA – it will not be possible for a single user’s email address to belong to multiple LPA codes. Please contact customer support if you need support with this.
I work for a Surrey authority. Are plans in place for when a number of authorities become one? There will be some work required when LPAs merge or are abolished to ensure data integrity for older cases and any cases that are in-flight. We will work with the relevant LPAs to understand what changes are required.
The code to login, if you are added as a user will that go to the user logged in or will it go to the generic inbox associated with the LPA? You can add users to the LPA’s account, where you will then be able to log in with your email address and code will be sent there rather than the central mailbox.
If a Consultant is defending an appeal on the LPA’s behalf, do they have to have their own login please? It will not be possible to give individual logins to external parties. The service has been designed so that all users in the LPA account have access to the same information. If you were to issue an individual login, the consultant would have access to all cases for that particular LPA. It may be possible to support this in future subject to demand.

Appeal types and procedures

Question Response
Will the new system give opportunity for the local authority to give opinion on appropriate type of appeal (eg written reps, hearing, inquiry) requested? The final decision on appeal procedure rests with the inspector, but LPAs are asked in the questionnaire under which procedure they think is most appropriate.
The HAS is different in the timescales, will these be separated so we know the timescales? HAS will be displayed on your dashboard as Householder appeals. S78 will show as Planning.
Each appeal type has a different timetable and the case list is displayed by due date of the next required action.
Are the householder Appeals service going to be identified separately on the dashboard as these have different time scales to the regular householder applications dealt with via written reps? HAS will be displayed on your dashboard as Householder. S78 will show as Planning.
To follow up on my previous question about householder appeals and their procedure, we previously issued letters stating the householder appeal would be under written representations and was told this was incorrect? Is there further clarification/specific guidance for this at all please? There is only one procedure for householder appeals, without any representations received from interested parties, statement or final comments from the LPA. Full planning appeals can be processed with written representations (interested party comments, statements and final documents), hearing and inquiry procedures.
Is this just for Written Reps? All three procedure types are included for full planning appeals: written representations, hearing, and inquiry.
For Householder appeals, we have seen the appeal type ‘planning’ and appeal procedure ‘written’. Does this mean the appeal will be determined under the householder appeals service or by written representations? There is only one procedure for householder appeals, without any representations received from interested parties, statement or final comments from the LPA. Full planning appeals can be processed with written representations (interested party comments, statements and final documents), hearing and inquiry procedures.

Documents and evidence

Question Response
Jeanette - Lewisham Council - We upload unredacted objections for the planning inspectorate, but redacted copies to the appellant, does that mean we don’t have to send all the information to the appellant now? We do not redact interested party comments received from the LPA at the application stage.
We do not publish these comments beyond the main parties, therefore LPAs should continue to follow their usual process and ensure that any documents they share with the appellant are appropriately redacted.
Will we be able to view appeal forms and the appellant’s submitted documents, or do we still need to ask for them to be emailed to us? When a new appeal is submitted you will receive a notification of this and you can view basic information in the dashboard.
Once the appeal has been validated by our case officers, you will be able to see full appeal details and appellant documents.
In the next financial year, we are planning to allow viewing of appeal form during validation phase, however documents will only be made available after the case has been started. When this work is complete the appellant no longer has to separately submit the appeal form and documents to the LPA as this is already available digitally from the service.
Can I confirm that all matters regarding EIA can be dealt with online. In short, am I right that we no longer need hard copies to be deposited? Matters regarding EIA can be dealt with online. They might need to be emailed across but they shouldn’t be in hard copy anymore.
Is it still necessary to upload copies of development plan front covers, policies etc or can a link to the online version be used? Yes you are still required to upload a physical copy because a link can be changed at a later date.
Should the PINS liaise with the LPA before validating the appeal because the appellant does not always send LPA all details that were sent to PINS? When a new appeal is submitted you will receive a notification of this and you can view basic information in the dashboard.
Once the appeal has been validated by our case officers, you will be able to see full appeal details and appellant documents.
In the next financial year, we are planning to allow viewing of appeal form during validation phase, however documents will only be made available after the case has been started. When this work is complete the appellant no longer has to separately submit the appeal form and documents to the LPA as this is already available digitally from the service.
When an appeal is received, is it possible that LPA’s can get a copy of the appeal form ASAP so that we can accurately log the appeal our end? When a new appeal is submitted you will receive a notification of this and you can view basic information in the dashboard.
Once the appeal has been validated by our case officers, you will be able to see full appeal details and appellant documents.
In the next financial year, we are planning to allow viewing of appeal form during validation phase, however documents will only be made available after the case has been started. When this work is complete the appellant no longer has to separately submit the appeal form and documents to the LPA as this is already available digitally from the service.
Where is the appeal form and appellants documents to download when a new appeal is submitted. I couldn’t see it on the new appeal section? When a new appeal is submitted you will receive a notification of this and you can view basic information in the dashboard.
Once the appeal has been validated by our case officers, you will be able to see full appeal details and appellant documents.
In the next financial year, we are planning to allow viewing of appeal form during validation phase, however documents will only be made available after the case has been started. When this work is complete the appellant no longer has to separately submit the appeal form and documents to the LPA as this is already available digitally from the service.
Hi, do we have to download the appellant’s documents individually or can we download them in bulk to then be able to upload them to our website? Currently you can only download the appeal form but you must download the individual documents. We are looking to improve this to support bulk download of the files.
Hello, Leeds City Council here, how do we get the Form and the GOA? The Questionnaire is after the Start Letter where is that? We have only had notifications of appeals via the new system, none have started yet. I was under the impression that we could log on and DL the form and GOA? When a new appeal is submitted you will receive a notification of this and you can view basic information in the dashboard.
Once the appeal has been validated by our case officers, you will be able to see full appeal details and appellant documents.
In the next financial year, we are planning to allow viewing of appeal form during validation phase, however documents will only be made available after the case has been started. When this work is complete the appellant no longer has to separately submit the appeal form and documents to the LPA as this is already available digitally from the service.
You can submit the questionnaire once the case has been started.

Letters and templates

Question Response
Will the new links for letters be given at the point of receiving a letter from the new system? Also did I understand correctly that we will be able to view the documents submitted by appellants in the new portal at point of submission or will we need to wait for it to be valid to view the documents? Links can be updated now - if someone searches on the new system and can’t find a case, it redirects to the old interface and vice versa. Documents can be viewed once the appeal is validated and started. During validation, only basic information is visible for the appeal.
We will update this soon so that the full appeal details are visible to the LPA during the validation stage.
How long do we have to update our letters? My colleague who has access to do this is off until January I believe As soon as possible. We have a link on the ACP for users to find an appeal on the comment on a planning appeal service if they can’t find it on the ACP.
The HAS template was updated on the 1st December. We are currently in dispute with regard to sending interested parties to the Customer service link and updating the Postal Address for PINS. The CS link remains and the Address is omitted. Can this please be clarified? The postal address provider was just changed. There was a news article last week about the new postal address handler. To view the latest version of the model letter with the new address use this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/model-notification-letter-for-planning-appeals
Interested parties must comment online, using this link: https://www.gov.uk/appeal-planning-decision/comment-on-an-appeal
Do we need to change notification letters for all appeal types now or just for the appeal types which have moved to the new process? You can start updating already for all appeal types already supported, an by the end of February all Enforcement case types will be completed. However, if letters are changed now and redirect to new system, there are redirects in place so people can search on both systems.

Notifications and communications

Question Response
Will the LPA receive a notification email from PINS when the appellant has submitted new info to a live appeal? For example if Final Comments have been submitted, do we need to keep checking manually for anything new, or will you notify us with an automated email? You will not receive a notification each time something is added. Email notifications are sent when the case status is updated.
You can always log in to the service to view the latest status of an appeal.
Do we still get a start date letter? Yes, the start letter will be emailed to you using the gov.uk Notify informing you of the timetable. This is a much shorter version than our current start letter.
When we get notifications and it says “if you do not receive docs from the appellant please contact them” but does not inform us who they are. Is this purely during the changeover period so that the new system will display this information? When a new appeal is submitted you will receive a notification of this and you can view basic information in the dashboard which includes the appellant or agent contact details.
If you are not getting this information, please contact customer support with the appeal reference number so that we can investigate this for you.
Will start letters still have dates for deadlines on? Yes the start letter has a timetable of the important dates.
Did you confirm that the emails will all go to the central LPA email and the individual email is just for logging onto the system? Yes that is correct. Updates on an appeal will go to the central email address. Only log in codes will go to your individual email address.
Will we still receive an email stating that the appeal has started detailing the important dates? You will receive a start email via gov notify informing you of the timetable. This is a much shorter version than the current start letter.
Could PINS begin sending a notification when an appeal is first submitted by the appellant? We currently do not receive one. At present, we receive an email from the appellant with their documents, and then approximately 20 days later we receive a start letter from PINS. When a new appeal is submitted you will receive a notification of this and you can view basic information in the dashboard.
Once the appeal has been validated by our case officers, you will be able to see full appeal details and appellant documents.
In the next financial year, we are planning to allow viewing of appeal form during validation phase, however documents will only be made available after the case has been started. When this work is complete the appellant no longer has to separately submit the appeal form and documents to the LPA as this is already available digitally from the service.
Did you say that we get an email informing us an appeal has been received, Questionnaire is due etc please? Yes you will. You’ll receive an email updating you at each stage of the appeal.

Onboarding and setup

Question Response
At Crawley we don’t seem to have received any information or onboarding correspondence regarding this new service, but we recently have been receiving ticket emails which we have not to my knowledge submitted any tickets. Is this something I raise with customer services or someone else? If you haven’t received any of the onboarding emails, please check your junk/spam folder.
You can still log in to the service using the central email address that we hold on file, and you will be sent a login code to access the service.
If you are unable to login please let our customer support team know and we can verify that your email address has been set up correctly.
You can use our contact form https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new to get help.
Can you confirm the email address we need to contact if we do not have access to the new portal as of yet? If you haven’t received any of the onboarding emails, please check your junk/spam folder.
You can still log in to the service using the central email address that we hold on file, and you will be sent a login code to access the service.
If you are unable to login please let our customer support team know and we can verify that your email address has been set up correctly.
You can use our contact form https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new to get help.
Is there an email address for customer support as Bexley have not received any onboarding emails? If you haven’t received any of the onboarding emails, please check your junk/spam folder.
You can still log in to the service using the central email address that we hold on file, and you will be sent a login code to access the service.
If you are unable to login please let our customer support team know and we can verify that your email address has been set up correctly.
You can use our contact form https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new to get help.
When do we expect to receive access to the new portal (Islington)? All LPAs have now been onboarded to the new service. If you haven’t received any of the onboarding emails, please check your junk/spam folder.
You can still log in to the service using the central email address that we hold on file, and you will be sent a login code to access the service.
You can use our contact form https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new to get help.
If our LPA has not received the 3 emails - who do we contact to sort it out? If you haven’t received any of the onboarding emails, please check your junk/spam folder.
You can still log in to the service using the central email address that we hold on file, and you will be sent a login code to access the service.
If you are unable to login please let our customer support team know and we can verify that your email address has been set up correctly.
You can use our contact form https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new to get help.
When do we get log in details and go live date? (Ashford Borough Council) All LPAs have now been added to the new service.
If you can’t locate your onboarding emails (this may have ended up in your junk/spam folder), you can still log in.
To log in, enter the central email address and a code will be sent. From there you can add LPA users. We no longer use passwords. Contact our customer service team if you are still unable to log in.

Publishing and public access

Question Response
Will we be able to put a link to the new system on our website for appeal documents or are we expected to download the appellants documents then re uploading to our website? No for the moment. LPAs still need to upload relevant documents to their website, but in the future this step may be removed with a policy change allowing links to public versions of documents held by the Inspectorate.

Questionnaire completion

Question Response
On the overview they said that the questionnaire and docs are automatically sent to the appellant. Is this the case or do we still need to send everything so we will need to download the completed questionnaire? After one of our case officers have reviewed the questionnaire they will publish it on to the appellant’s dashboard and so it is no longer required for the LPA to send the appellant a copy.
Can the questionnaire be completed in part? Admin and planning officers currently answer some of the questions each, neither complete the whole thing? Yes it can. You can save your progress after each question and you or another colleague can log in and work on the questionnaire. You can save and return, and another colleague can continue it at a later date.
We got our first appeal questionnaire last week relating to a refusal of PP and couldn’t see where we inserted the press ad relating to advertising the refused application - we could only see where to input the documents relating to notification of the appeal.
Where do the site notices/press ads go?		 In section 3 of the questionnaire you are able to select how you notified relevant parties about the planning application. You can select a site notice, letters or emails and an advert.
If you use the ‘save & continue’ function during the questionnaire, presumably it won’t let you submit the questionnaire until you’ve gone back to complete that question? You need to finish the questionnaire to submit. The option to submit is only available once all questions are answered. In the summary page it shows which questions are not yet started or partially started for each section.
Will questionnaires not now have to be sent by the LPA to the appellant? Appellants will be able to download the questionnaire and supporting documents from their own dashboard once it has been reviewed and marked as complete by the Planning Inspectorate.
If I need to do further checks for a question can I still progress to the next and come back later for the one I needed to look into further? Yes you can. You can save and continue later to continue with the questionnaire or jump to different sections. The questions do not have to be answered in order.

Support and contact

Question Response
How do we use the contact or feedback if we can’t log in? Contact customer services - https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new
This link is available at the bottom of the service page regardless of whether you are logged in or not.
LB Waltham Forest - Please provide Customer Services contact details/email in the chat. We still have not received our log in details. If you haven’t received any of the onboarding emails, please check your junk/spam folder.
You can still log in to the service using the central email address that we hold on file, and you will be sent a login code to access the service.
If you are unable to login please let our customer support team know and we can verify that your email address has been set up correctly.
You can use our contact form https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new to get help.
Please can you share in this chat the customer service contact details? You can use our contact form https://contact-us.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new to get help. This is available in the footer of the service page which is always available regardless of whether you’re logged in already.
Although customer services only operate during business hours, the online form can be used at any time.

System functionality

Question Response
Where we have two appeals for two linked applications for the same works (ie. a Full Application & Listed Building Consent), will appeals continue to be split for each of these or will they be tied together? We will soon be introducing improvements for linked appeals in the service so that any cases that are linked will include the parent and child tags and will allow them to be processed together by the Inspectorate.
The notification prompt email only gives the LPA Ref. Could it give us the appeal ref no. please? Yes, we will make sure to update this in the next financial year.
Stephen asked about the url to the platform being rather long. We are aware we can bookmark it, but felt it was clunky on letters where we invite comment. Is this something you can review? You can bookmark the URL. There are government guidelines about creating new URLs requiring service assessment, we can look to update this in the future if there is strong demand.
Are the long APP/ appeal references no longer being used for appeals? Correct. We will now only be displaying a 7 digit reference number which currently starts with 6.
Is there a plan to create a sort of “home page” the link to view an appeal? For example the URL is rather long https://appeal-planning-decision.service.gov.uk/comment-planning-appeal/enter-appeal-reference for a letter. But using the top level domain url auto forwards to creation of appeal. You can bookmark the URL. There are government guidelines about creating new URLs requiring service assessment, we can look to update this in the future if there is strong demand.
The dashboard is effectively the homepage, from here you can navigate to the appeal.
Is there an opportunity to add in AI search bar when searching for applications? No, we will not be introducing AI powered search. In the next financial year we will look to introduce improvements to include search by appeal number, LPA reference number and either postcode or fist line of address.
Is there any plan to include the LPA reference within the dashboard home page and issued emails? As a recently unified authority we are still battling to get information to the correct former districts. We include the LPA application reference in our notification emails and this is also included in the case details view. 
We can look to add the LPA application reference in the case list table view (Your appeals, Waiting for Review) if there is strong demand. Please do use the service feedback link for any suggestions or recommendations you may have.
The abbreviate ACP or ATP was used in the presentation for the old system what is the definition? ACP is the Appeals Casework Portal - the legacy service / old system that has been in use with customers. This is being replaced with our new service.
Can we have the LPA planning reference number on the dashboard? As a unitary authority this would be very useful. You can view the LPA application reference in the case details view.  We can look to add the LPA application reference in the case list table view (Your appeals, Waiting for Review) if there is strong demand. Please do use the service feedback link for any suggestions or recommendations you may have.

Updates to this page

Published 17 December 2025