Social media use

Guidance about the Planning Inspectorate’s various social media channels, all of which are managed by the organisation’s communications team.

Our social media channels will feature a variety of information about our services, keeping you informed and up to date with what is happening at the Inspectorate.

X (Twitter)

The @PINSgov X (Twitter) account is formally monitored from Monday to Friday 9–5, except on Bank Holidays. If you follow @PINSgov, you can expect regular tweets covering:

  • news and press releases;
  • updates about casework and national infrastructure projects;
  • new photos and videos;
  • retweets of organisations and government departments relevant to the Planning Inspectorate’s field of work; and
  • occasional live event coverage.

If we follow a X (Twitter) account it does not imply any kind of endorsement, nor does a retweet.

@ messages and direct messages

We review all @ messages directed at the PINS X (Twitter) account. We do not necessarily reply to each and every one, but where we can and it is appropriate to do so, we will as quickly as possible.

We will not engage on issues of government or other planning policy. Similarly, we will not comment on any parts of our business where it would be inappropriate for us to do so, including live planning appeals,

Twitter and FOI

For Freedom of Information (FOI) requests we will usually ask by Direct Message for an email address to reply to. If we can reply in the form of a single tweet we may do so.

YouTube

The Planning Inspectorate YouTube page is used to publish guidance videos, speeches or announcements from senior management.

The Planning Inspectorate YouTube page is not moderated.

Comments posted on YouTube are the views of individuals and do not represent the views of The Planning Inspectorate.

We cannot accept responsibility for the content of any comment, but we reserve the right to disable the comments section of a video if it contains abusive, obscene, indecent, offensive or threatening language.

LinkedIn

The Planning Inspectorate LinkedIn page is used to highlight news, job opportunities, articles and announcements from The Planning Inspectorate. Comments posted and messages received on the LinkedIn page are views of individuals and do not represent the views of The Planning Inspectorate.

Flickr

The Planning Inspectorate Flickr photostream includes images of our senior management as well as images taken at events. Photos may be used with permission from The Planning Inspectorate communications team.

Communication given by The Planning Inspectorate through social media channels does not constitute legal advice.

The Planning Inspectorate has a legal duty to publish a record of advice given in relation to national infrastructure planning applications. Requests for advice received through social media may be referred to the appropriate team within the Inspectorate and a record of the advice published on the national infrastructure planning website.

Social media house rules

We’re here to help in any way that we can, but we expect users to offer us the same level of courtesy that we offer them. We want our social media channels to be safe spaces and a place for healthy, open and insightful discussion, which is why we have a short set of house rules:

  • All users must comply with the social media platform’s Terms of Use as well as our own terms of use.
  • We will remove, in whole or in part, posts that we feel are inappropriate, or discriminatory against any individual or group.
  • You are wholly responsible for any content you post including content that you choose to share. We conduct social media monitoring and report internally on social media mentions, trends and sentiment analysis.
  • We will remove messages (where function allows) and report and/or block users on our social media channels who post messages at us which we believe are:
    • Abusive or obscene
    • Deceptive or misleading
    • In violation of any intellectual property rights, including copyright
    • In violation of any law or regulation
    • Spam and off-topic content (persistent negative and/or abusive posts in which the aim is to provoke a response)
    • Promotional material, including links to external websites and promotions

Anyone repeatedly engaging with us using content or language which falls into the above categories will be blocked and/or reported to the associated social media platform. We will not tolerate or respond to abusive messages.

We must remain politically neutral at all times on social media which means our officers are unable to reply to, endorse or engage with, any content that is of a party political nature or views on policy.

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