Official Statistics

Planning Inspectorate statistical release 17 February 2022

Published 17 February 2022

Applies to England

Introduction

This statistical release provides summary information on appeals, which represent the highest volume (in terms of number of cases) of the work of the Planning Inspectorate.

These statistics are produced each month and the focus is on timeliness, as that is an area in which stakeholders have an interest. Information on the decisions that have been made is also included; and on the number of Inspectors available to make those decisions.

These statistics have been published to ensure everyone has equal access to the information and to support the Planning Inspectorate’s commitment to release information where possible.

This statistical bulletin provides :

• Appeals decisions and events held from February 2021 – January 2022
• The time taken to reach those decisions
• Number of open cases
• Number of Inspectors
• Number of virtual events

The Planning Inspectorate

The Planning Inspectorate makes decision and provides recommendations and advice on a range of land use planning-related issues across England. We do this in a fair, open, and timely way.

The Planning Inspectorate deals with planning appeals, national infrastructure planning applications, examinations of local plans and other planning-related and specialist casework in England. The Planning Inspectorate is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, previously known as the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Summary

Time to decide cases

The median time to decide a case in January 2022 was 27 weeks. The median time to decide was around 20 weeks at the start of the year, and has increased to over 25 weeks for the last 4 months.

Median timeliness by procedure type is shown in the summary table below.

Procedure type	Last 12 months	January 2022
Written Representations	22 weeks	25 weeks
Hearings	51 weeks	64 weeks
Inquiries	63 weeks	91 weeks
All Cases	23 weeks	27 weeks

The median time for planning cases was above 20 weeks for the last 10 months; and around 25 weeks for the last 4 months. Across the whole year, the median time to decision is 22 weeks.

Enforcement decisions made in the last 12 months had a median decision time of 36 weeks.

Since February 2021 Specialist cases have been decided quicker than Enforcement.

The median time for planning appeals decided by inquiry under the Rosewell Process over the 12 months to January 2022 is 32 weeks. This is quicker than other types of casework decided by inquiry.

The mean average time to make a decision, across all cases in the last 12 months (Feb-21 to Jan-22), was 28 weeks. The median time for the year was 23 weeks.

Decisions

The Planning Inspectorate has made 16,874 appeal decisions in the last 12 months, an average of just over 1,400 per month. The number of decisions in January 2022 was a little lower than average, 1,364 decisions were issued.

There were 1,249 Written representations decisions in January 2022; and 15,760 in the last 12 months. Pre-pandemic levels were approximately between 1,600 and 2,000 decisions per month.

There were 636 decisions made on hearings during the last 12 months, and during January 2022 55 decisions were issued. Pre-pandemic levels for hearing decisions were between 50 and 100 decisions per month.

There were 478 decisions made on inquiries during the last 12 months ,with 60 in January 2022. Decisions for inquiries since February 2021 have ranged between approximately 20 and 60. Pre-pandemic levels for inquiry decisions were between 15 and 90 decisions per month.

Open Cases

At the end of January 2022, the Planning Inspectorate had over thirteen thousand open cases (13,343). This is higher than the previous month; the number of open cases has been rising through the year.

Planning Inspectors

There were 361 Planning Inspectors employed by the Inspectorate in January 2022 with a full-time equivalent of 323.

Decisions, Events and Open Cases

The number of decisions issued in January 2022 was 1,364; this is lower than the number in December 21 and a little lower than the average number of decisions issued over the past 12 months (1,406).

The number of events held in January 2022 was 1,621, an increase of almost 600 events compared to December 2022.

The median time to decide a case during January 2022 was 26.9 weeks, this is an increase of 1.5 weeks compared to December 2021. The median time to decide was around 20 weeks at the start of the year, and has increased to over 25 weeks for the last 4 months.

Figure 1: Number of events held , decisions issued and median time between valid date & decision date; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note – Red arrow indicates period when national lockdown was in effect

Source: Horizon, Picaso, Inspector Scheduling System

Table 1: Number of events held, decisions issued and median time between valid date & decision date; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex F for further information

Month	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Events Held	1,364	1,395	1,351	1,554	1,663	1,314	1,241	1,530	1,279	1,710	1,030	1,621	17,052
Decisions	1,444	1,612	1,083	1,506	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,237	1,556	1,484	1,364	16,874
Median	20.9	18.9	21.9	22.0	21.9	21.3	23.9	24.3	26.4	25.4	25.4	26.9	23.0

Source: Horizon, Picaso, Inspector Scheduling System

The number of open cases stands at its highest point in the last 12 months, at 13,343 cases; and has been rising through the year. This is because most months, more appeals are received than are closed. The numbers of appeals received averages at 1,777 per month, over the last 12 months. The number closed averages just under 1,600 per month, over the last 12 months.

Note – The number of cases closed is higher than the number of decisions, as it includes cases where an appeal is withdrawn, notice is withdrawn, or the appeal is turned away.

Figure 2: Number of cases received, closed and open; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Note – Red arrow indicates period when national lockdown was in effect

Data note 1 – there is a known anomaly that means that the number of open cases does not exactly follow the volumes of cases closed or received (for example the number of open cases can increase between months even though the number closed exceeded the number received). The main reasons for this have been identified and are detailed in the Background Quality Report.

Table 2: Number of cases received, closed and open; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex E for further information

Month	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Received	1,760	1,964	1,718	1,676	1,795	1,762	1,780	1,809	1,762	1,921	1,733	1,648	21,328
Closed	1,623	1,826	1,238	1,664	1,734	1,494	1,361	1,732	1,431	1,799	1,701	1,548	19,151
Open(All)	10,991	11,284	11,719	11,725	11,764	11,978	12,513	12,561	12,862	13,006	13,140	13,343

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Number of Decisions

The Planning Inspectorate has made 16,874 appeal decisions in the last 12 months, an average of just over 1,400 per month. 1,364 cases were decided in January 2022. Table 3 below shows the monthly breakdown with fewer decisions for the months of April, July, August, and October 2021. This is thought to be due, in part, to the impact of staff taking more leave in 2021 than in 2020; and to an annual training event that took place in October 2021.

Table 3: Appeal Decisions; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex E for further information

Month	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Decisions	1,444	1,612	1,083	1,506	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,237	1,556	1,484	1,364	16,874

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Figure 3 – Appeal Decisions; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Decisions by procedure and case type

Planning Inspectors work on a broader range of work than the appeals featured in this Release. For example, they also work on examining Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project applications, Local Plans , Compulsory Purchase Order applications and many other specialist licencing/application types.

Table 4 below gives the numbers of appeal decisions made broken down by whether the case was dealt with by written representations, hearings, or inquiries.

The large majority of decisions (15,760) were made on written representations. This is ninety three percent of all appeal decisions made. Table 4 shows that written representation decisions varied from around 1,000 to over 1,500 per month through 2021. (Pre-pandemic levels being between approximately 1,600 and 2,000 decisions per month). There were 1,249 such decisions in January 2022.

There were 636 decisions made on hearings during the last 12 months and during January 2022 55 decisions were issued, which is about the same as the average of 53 decisions per month over the past year. Pre-pandemic levels for hearing decisions were between 50 and 100 decisions per month.

There were 478 decisions made on inquiries during the last 12 months and during January 2022 60 decisions were issued which is higher than the average of 40 decisions over the past year ,the highest number of the last 12 months. Decisions for inquiries since Febuary 2021 have ranged between approximately 20 and 60. Pre-pandemic levels for inquiry decisions were between 15 and 90 decisions per month.

Table 4: Appeal Decisions by Procedure and Casework Category; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex E for further information

Month	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Written Representations	1,382	1,526	996	1,390	1,394	1,200	1,105	1,474	1,187	1,459	1,398	1,249	15,760
Hearings	43	53	52	64	80	65	51	40	32	47	54	55	636
Inquiries	19	33	35	52	56	37	56	30	18	50	32	60	478
Total	1,444	1,612	1,083	1,506	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,237	1,556	1,484	1,364	16,874
Month	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Planning	1,240	1,413	938	1,285	1,269	1,077	970	1,365	1,033	1,332	1,263	1,109	14,294
Enforcement	112	149	100	161	200	179	187	148	154	193	160	208	1,951
Specialist	92	50	45	60	61	46	55	31	50	31	61	47	629
Total	1,444	1,612	1,083	1,506	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,237	1,556	1,484	1,364	16,874

Source: Horizon and Picaso.

What are Planning cases? The Planning category includes s78 planning appeals, householder appeals, commercial appeals, listed building consent appeals, advertisement appeals, s106 planning obligation appeals and Called In Planning Applications.

What are Enforcement cases? Enforcement covers enforcement appeals (i.e., appeals against the issue of an enforcement notice by a local planning authority), enforcement listed building notice appeals and lawful development certificate appeals.

What are Specialist cases? This category covers a wide range of different types of casework including Common Land, Environment, Purchase Notice, Rights of Way orders (including Schedule 14 cases), Tree Preservation Orders, Hedgerows and High Hedges cases.

The large majority of cases were planning (14,294). This is about eighty-five per cent of all appeal decisions made. There were 1,951 enforcement decisions and 629 specialist decisions. These totals are also shown in Table 4 above and Figure 4 below.

Trends for planning decisions show similar patterns to written representations. The number of enforcement decisions varies around an average of 160 decisions per month. January 22 had he most enforcement decisions of the last 12 months. June’s total (200) was double that of April (100). Specialist casework figures continue to vary each month, from a low of 30 (September 2021) to a high of 92 (February 2021).

Figure 4 – Appeal Decisions by Procedure and Casework Category; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Appeals by Procedure

Appeals by Casework Type

Decision timeliness

It is important for people to know how long an appeal is going to take, so that they can make plans and decisions based on this information. This section covers the timeliness of decisions (i.e., how long it takes to make a decision) across appeal casework. In addition to an overall measure, timeliness is analysed by procedure type and casework category, as timeliness varies a great deal depending on these characteristics.

Table 5 below shows that the mean average time to make a decision, across all cases in the last 12 months, was 28 weeks. Figure 5 shows the mean has been above 25 weeks for the last 12 months, except for March 21; and has generally been higher since August 21, with values closer to 30 weeks; and the last six months being higher than any of the previous six months. The standard deviation – a measure of variation – is comparable to performance seen over the last 12 months.

How is timeliness measured?

The time to make a decision is measured from the time the Inspectorate have enough information for the case to proceed (it is deemed ‘valid’) to the time a decision letter is issued. A large majority of cases are ‘validated’ (the difference between the date the appeal is received, and the validation process being completed) in a week or less.

The decisions made in a given month will include those that started many months before, and thus do not give an accurate indication of how decisions submitted, or deemed ‘valid’ in that month, will take.

Table 5 also shows the median time for the last 12 months is 23 weeks. Each month the median is less than the mean, due to the larger impact on the mean of very long cases.

The median time to decide was around 20 weeks at the start of the year, and has increased to over 25 weeks for the last 4 months. The median timeliness was highest at 27 weeks in January 2022, and lowest in March 2021 at 19 weeks. As with the mean, the median time to decision for each of the last six months is higher than any of the previous six months.

Also included in the table is the standard deviation of decision timeliness. A lower standard deviation would demonstrate greater consistency in the Planning Inspectorate’s decision timeliness.

What are mean, meadian and standard deviation?

Measure	Definition
Mean	The total time taken divided by the number of cases. Also referred to as the ‘average’. A measure of how long each case would take, if the total time taken was spread evenly across all cases.
Median	This is the time taken by the ‘middle’ case if all cases were sorted from quickest to longest
Standard deviation	This is a measure of variability or spread. It is calculated by examining how much each value differs from the mean. A higher standard deviation means the individual decision times vary more widely around the mean.

Table 5: Mean, Median and Standard Deviation of Time to Decision; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Month	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Valid to Decision (mean weeks)	26.7	23.9	27.3	26.2	28.3	27.2	31.0	28.6	31.0	30.5	29.4	31.7	28.4
Valid to Decision (median weeks)	20.9	18.9	21.9	22.0	21.9	21.3	23.9	24.3	26.4	25.4	25.4	26.9	23.0
Standard Deviation (weeks)	17.0	16.0	18.7	16.7	19.7	18.5	23.3	16.7	19.0	21.0	17.8	21.9	18.9

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Figure 5: Mean and Median Time to Decision; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Procedure Type

Table 6 below shows decision timeliness broken down by the procedure type. Hearings and inquires take longer than written representations – both types take more than twice as long on average across the last 12 months. Because 19 of every 20 cases are by written representation, the timeliness measures for written representations are similar to the measure across all cases.

Where a small number of cases has been decided, the average timeliness (whether mean or median) is less meaningful as a measure than where there are many cases. Those noted in the table caption below should be treated with caution as there are fewer than 20 cases decided.

Median times are less affected by large values than mean times, so are the focus of this commentary. The median time for written representations over the 12 months to January 2022 is 22 weeks; the last four months have longer median time to decision than the previous eight months. The median time for inquiries over the 12 months to January 2022 is over a year - 63 weeks. The median time for hearings is less at 51 weeks. For each of these procedure types, the mean is higher than the median as it is more affected by the longest cases.

Table 6: Mean and Median Time to Decision, with Standard Deviation, by Procedure; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note 1: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex F for further information

Note 2: where the number of decisions issued is fewer than 20, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to the number of inquiries in Feb-21 and Oct-21.

Measure	Procedure	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Written Representations	25.3	22.1	24.1	24.1	25.0	24.5	27.2	27.3	29.6	27.9	27.8	28.0	26.0
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Hearings	47.9	56.7	63.8	42.9	57.0	50.0	49.8	57.1	57.2	60.8	61.2	75.7	56.8
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Inquiries	76.3	57.6	64.4	61.7	70.9	77.5	87.7	56.5	77.6	80.3	47.3	69.4	68.9
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	All Cases	26.7	23.9	27.3	26.2	28.3	27.2	31.0	28.6	31.0	30.5	29.4	31.7	28.4
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Written Representations	20.4	18.4	20.9	21.1	20.7	20.4	23.0	23.6	25.9	24.4	24.9	25.4	22.1
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Hearings	49.0	52.4	62.0	39.6	61.3	43.6	43.9	50.4	53.6	47.9	54.4	64.1	51.2
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Inquiries	68.1	41.3	62.4	66.0	64.6	79.0	95.0	35.6	50.4	80.9	40.6	90.9	63.4
Valid to decision (median weeks)	All Cases	20.9	18.9	21.9	22.0	21.9	21.3	23.9	24.3	26.4	25.4	25.4	26.9	23.0
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Written Representations	14.8	12.6	13.6	14.0	13.9	13.3	16.0	14.0	16.4	15.5	15.0	15.0	14.7
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Hearings	21.0	26.3	26.9	18.4	21.7	19.8	27.5	27.5	22.9	38.6	31.7	43.8	29.1
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Inquiries	36.9	31.3	27.8	26.1	42.8	43.8	47.1	40.8	50.9	41.8	30.0	30.5	39.2
Standard Deviation (weeks)	All Cases	17.0	16.0	18.7	16.7	19.7	18.5	23.3	16.7	19.0	21.0	17.8	21.9	18.9
Decisions	Written Representations	1,382	1,526	996	1,390	1,394	1,200	1,105	1,474	1,187	1,459	1,398	1,249	15,760
Decisions	Hearings	43	53	52	64	80	65	51	40	32	47	54	55	636
Decisions	Inquiries	19	33	35	52	56	37	56	30	18	50	32	60	478
Decisions	Total	1,444	1,612	1,083	1,506	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,237	1,556	1,484	1,364	16,874

Source: Horizon and Picaso.

The standard deviation information indicates that for all three procedures, there is considerable variation, meaning times are widely spread about the mean. For written representations, the amount of variation appears to have increased, with the last six months higher (six at or above 15) than the previous six months (all but one at 14 or lower). Hearings have experienced higher month to month changes. For inquiries the variation for the last two months has been around 30 weeks, the previous 6 months were more than 40 weeks.

Casework Category

The nature of the cases the Planning Inspectorate deal with varies widely and several factors play a part in determining how long it takes to make a decision. One such factor is the type of casework. Table 7 below shows the time taken to decide, in planning cases, in enforcement cases, and in specialist cases, as does Figure 6.

The median time to decision for planning cases (there are many more of these decisions than in the other categories) is lower than for enforcement cases; and less variable than the times for specialist cases. Table 7 and Figure 6 show the median time for planning cases was above 20 weeks for the last 10 months; and around 25 weeks for the last 4 months. Across the whole year, the median time to decision is 22 weeks for these cases.

Table 7: Decisions, Mean, Median and Standard Deviation of Time to Decision – Planning, Enforcement, Specialist Cases; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex F for further information

Appeal Type	Measure	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Planning Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	23.2	21.9	24.7	24.4	25.2	24.4	26.2	26.9	28.3	27.2	26.9	28.1	25.5
Planning Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	19.6	18.3	20.9	21.6	20.7	20.4	23.0	23.6	25.3	24.6	24.6	25.3	22.0
Planning Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	11.6	12.4	14.6	13.0	15.2	13.7	14.7	13.5	13.6	14.1	13.7	16.2	13.9
Enforcement Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	42.7	41.7	47.6	40.6	45.7	42.7	54.5	40.7	43.7	53.5	45.0	49.5	45.9
Enforcement Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	34.9	31.0	35.2	28.3	38.9	32.3	41.6	33.2	34.0	39.9	39.1	37.5	35.9
Enforcement Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	26.7	26.3	29.4	28.9	29.7	29.4	38.3	26.3	30.1	37.6	26.4	32.4	31.0
Specialist Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	53.7	28.7	35.6	24.7	36.6	33.7	34.4	47.8	48.9	31.6	40.8	39.7	39.4
Specialist Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	53.6	14.9	21.9	15.9	28.0	22.4	17.7	30.3	32.1	19.6	27.1	29.1	27.4
Specialist Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	24.7	28.2	30.1	21.6	27.7	27.4	29.6	35.9	36.6	31.5	32.5	35.0	31.3

Source: Horizon and Picaso.

Annex B gives information on mean and median time to decision, with standard deviation, for the three procedure types, split by planning, enforcement, and specialist casework categories.

Enforcement decisions made in the last 12 months had a median decision time of 36 weeks. For the last 12 months the mean is 46 weeks. The median time for enforcement decisions is longer than the median decision time for planning cases; this has been consistently so each month through the year.

There are considerably fewer specialist cases which means results are more liable to be distorted by extreme values. Looking at the annual measures, the median and mean time to decision for specialist decisions have been shorter than enforcement decisions, and longer than the median for planning decisions. Since February 2021 Specialist cases have been decided quicker than Enforcement. The mix of casework being decided under the Specialist group has changed, and there was a concentrated effort to decide a high number of older Tree Preservation Order (TPO) cases that has influenced performance figures.

Figure 6 – Median Time to Decision by Casework Category: Feb-21 to Jan-22

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Note that the Inspectorate publishes each month, information on the mean and median times from valid to decision, for selected appeal types. The information published also breaks down the time for each stage of the process. See Annex C for further details.

Planning Inquiry Decisions

For planning appeals decided by the inquiry process, The Planning Inspectorate has been implementing recommendations from the Rosewell review.

The median time for inquiries over the 12 months to January 2022 is 32 weeks, with the mean being higher at 38 weeks. The median in November and December 2021 was below 30 weeks; this increased to 32 weeks in January 2022.

Table 8: Decisions, Mean and Median Time to Decision, Planning Inquiry Cases under Rosewell Process; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Note 1: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex F for further information

Note 2: where there are fewer than 20 decisions, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to all months except June 2021.

Measure	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Decisions	8	15	17	16	30	11	13	19	8	19	14	21	191
Mean (weeks)	40.7	36.7	53.5	34.3	40.7	32.0	39.6	30.5	40.0	36.8	29.2	37.8	37.7
Median (weeks)	40.7	33.7	51.9	30.1	33.9	29.1	25.1	26.9	43.2	28.6	27.4	31.9	31.6
St. Dev. (weeks)	7.9	12.0	31.1	9.9	22.1	12.0	44.5	10.7	13.5	18.7	8.5	19.6	21.2

Source: Horizon

Most inquiry decisions now being issued are under the revised ‘Rosewell’ process but some inquiries, for example those that are linked together with associated enforcement cases, do not follow the Rosewell process.

Table 9: Decisions, Planning Inquiry Cases under non-Rosewell Process; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Month	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Decisions	1	1	1	4	7	2	3	1	0	0	3	2	25

Source: Horizon

Figure 7 below shows the mean and median time to decision for planning inquiry cases under the Rosewell process.

Figure 7: Mean, Median Time to Decision, Rosewell Inquiry Process; Feb-21 to Jan-22

Source: Horizon

Open Cases

At the end of January 2022, the Planning Inspectorate had over thirteen thousand cases open (13,343). This is higher than the previous month; the number of open cases has been rising through the year. More information on the number of open cases, and how it has changed over the past 12 months, is in Table 1 and Figure 1 above.

The open cases comprised of just over 11,400 cases being handled through written representations; just over 1,100 through hearings; and just under 650 through inquiries. This is not the number of ‘live’ hearings and inquiries since it includes cases where the event (hearing or inquiry) has yet to start, as well as those where the event has finished but the decision has yet to be issued.

For each procedure type, there are more cases with an event yet to start, than at any other stage in the process. Event refers to either a site visit, hearing, or inquiry.

Table 10: Open cases by procedure and stage, as of end of January 2022

Procedure	Case received but yet to be deemed valid	Case deemed valid, event date yet to be set / in the future	Event complete but decision not yet issued	Total
Written Representations	1,189	8,688	1,526	11,403
Hearings	75	929	132	1,136
Inquiries	3	528	110	641
Total	1,267	10,300	1,776	13,343

Source: Horizon

Note there are 163 cases that have no procedure type recorded (see Background Quality Report for more detail) These are included in the total row but excluded from the breakdown by procedure.

Data note 1 - the count of open cases from December 2020 onwards has been revised to include some specialist casework types that were previously excluded: High Hedge (HH), Hedgerow (HGW) and Tree Preservation Order (TPO).

Data note 2 – there is a known anomaly that means that the number of open cases does not exactly follow the volumes of cases closed or received (for example the number of open cases can increase between months even though the number closed exceeded the number received). The main reasons for this have been identified and are detailed in the Background Quality Report.

Inspectors

Table 11 below shows the number of inspectors in the Planning Inspectorate in each month from February 2021 to January 2022 . This includes headcount (i.e. the number of different individuals) and full-time equivalents (FTE) where those working part time are counted in proportion with their contracted hours. There were 360 Planning Inspectors employed by the Inspectorate in January 2022 – with a full-time equivalent of 321.

Table 11: Planning Inspectors – Headcount and FTE; Feb-21 to Jan-22 (at end of month)

Month	Feb -21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22
Headcount	345	352	355	353	349	347	346	345	351	360	361	360
FTE	308.1	314.4	317.0	314.4	310.8	308.4	307.8	306.6	314.0	323.2	322.8	320.9

Source: SAP HR

As above, Planning Inspectors work on a broader range of work than the appeals featured in this Release. They also work on applications and examinations. Please note that data on Planning Inspectors is only applicable to salaried employees (it does not include fixed term contract Inspectors or non-salaried Inspectors).

Revisions to previous release

Data in the previous statistical release may have changed between being published last month and what is shown this month. Where changes have occurred (the volume numbers have changed by more than five, or the timeliness measures have changed by greater than 0.5 weeks) the tables in this release give the most recent figures. Information about which tables this applies to, can be found in Annex F and the separate Background Quality Report

Annex A Content of ad hoc Statistical Releases, 2020 - 22

Date	Mar-20	Apr-20	Jul-20	Sep-20	Oct-20
Content	Appeals receipts and decisions in the last 12 and 24 months (1st March 2018 – 29th February 2020)	Appeals receipts and decisions between 17th March 2020 and 22nd April 2020	Appeals decisions between 17th March 2020 and 22nd June 2020	Appeals decisions between 17th March 2020 and 21st September 2020	Appeals decisions from October 2019 to September 2020
Content	Number of section 78 Planning Appeals received / decided / within target that used the written representation method in the last 12 months (1st March 2019 – 29th February 2020)	Live appeals in the system as at 23rd April 2020	Number of open cases	Number of open cases	Number of open cases
Content	Number of dwellings decided, and number of dwellings allowed by appeal decisions between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2019.	Number of appeals involving housing within the system as at 23rd April 2020	Number of virtual events	Number of virtual events	Number of virtual events
Content	Number of Planning Inspectors employed by the Planning Inspectorate at the end of each quarter between 31st March 2017 and 31st December 2019.	Virtual site visits	Number of appeals
Content			involving housing within the system as at 12th June 2020
Scope	England only	England only	England only	England only	England only
Scope	Planning cases, Enforcement cases and Rights of Way orders	Planning cases, Enforcement cases and Rights of Way orders	Planning cases, Enforcement cases and Rights of Way orders	Planning cases, Enforcement cases and Rights of Way orders	Planning cases, Enforcement cases, Specialist cases: Common Land, Rights of Way orders, Tree Preservation Orders, High Hedges appeals and Hedgerow appeals

Annex B: Mean and median time to decisions, with standard deviation, for planning, enforcement and specialist casework.

Planning

Note: where there are fewer than 20 decisions, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to inquiry decisions in all months of 2021 except for May, June and September.

Planning	Measure	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	1,199	1,359	886	1,214	1,193	1,021	917	1,323	1,000	1,276	1,204	1,053	13,645
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	22.5	21.0	22.9	23.4	23.5	23.3	25.2	26.2	27.5	26.3	25.8	26.5	24.4
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	19.4	18.0	20.1	21.0	20.0	19.7	22.4	23.1	25.0	24.1	24.3	24.7	21.6
Written Representations	Standard Deviation Weeks	10.5	10.9	11.2	11.7	11.9	11.3	12.0	12.3	12.7	12.0	11.5	12.4	11.8
Hearings	Decisions	32	38	34	51	39	43	37	22	25	37	42	33	433
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	41.6	48.0	56.1	40.7	49.2	42.7	41.3	54.7	54.7	54.3	56.8	70.7	49.9
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	47.0	44.8	56.9	37.4	45.4	42.0	37.4	50.4	54.3	45.9	50.0	55.9	46.0
Hearings	Standard Deviation Weeks	16.8	24.6	23.6	18.9	20.7	16.5	18.6	24.0	20.6	34.1	29.3	39.0	25.8
Inquiries	Decisions	9	16	18	20	37	13	16	20	8	19	17	23	216
Inquiries	Mean Average Weeks	50.6	35.8	54.9	44.8	53.5	53.5	50.3	36.6	40.0	36.8	29.1	41.0	44.1
Inquiries	Median Average Weeks	42.9	33.6	52.4	32.9	36.9	30.9	30.0	27.9	43.2	28.6	23.9	31.9	33.4
Inquiries	Standard Deviation Weeks	29.0	12.1	30.7	23.5	37.3	51.6	53.9	28.8	13.5	18.7	10.5	25.4	31.8
All Cases	Decisions	1,240	1,413	938	1,285	1,269	1,077	970	1,365	1,033	1,332	1,263	1,109	14,294
All Cases	Mean Average Weeks	23.2	21.9	24.7	24.4	25.2	24.4	26.2	26.9	28.3	27.2	26.9	28.1	25.5
All Cases	Median Average Weeks	19.6	18.3	20.9	21.6	20.7	20.4	23.0	23.6	25.3	24.6	24.6	25.3	22.0
All Cases	Standard Deviation Weeks	11.6	12.4	14.6	13.0	15.2	13.7	14.7	13.5	13.6	14.1	13.7	16.2	13.9

• The median time to decision for planning written representations has generally been increasing since March 2021, as has the mean.
• The standard deviation of time to decision for planning written representations has generally been slightly increasing since February 2021, indicating more variability in the time to decision.
• The median for planning hearings has been above 50 weeks for the last two months. This higher median reflects a backlog of cases built up by the impact of the pandemic and setting up the processes for holding events virtually; and is accompanied by an increase in the standard deviation.
• Both the mean and median for planning inquiries has been generally reducing over the last 12 months, not always from month to month.

Enforcement

Note: where there are fewer than 20 decisions, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to hearing decisions in all months other than June and July 2021; and to inquiry decisions in all months other than May, July, August and November 2021

Enforcement	Measure	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	95	120	68	118	142	137	139	122	140	156	137	155	1,529
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	35.4	32.3	34.4	31.5	33.1	32.2	40.0	33.8	38.8	42.1	41.5	37.2	36.4
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	28.1	27.4	29.6	24.9	29.1	26.0	35.4	28.1	32.7	31.6	37.4	31.7	29.9
Written Representations	Standard Deviation Weeks	17.8	17.0	20.9	25.6	17.8	19.6	25.8	16.8	22.4	28.2	23.9	22.1	22.5
Hearings	Decisions	10	13	16	12	39	22	11	18	7	9	10	19	186
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	66.3	78.5	77.9	50.9	62.6	64.1	70.7	60.0	66.1	82.7	71.6	81.8	69.7
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	68.8	84.4	71.3	45.2	61.6	67.3	56.0	50.8	53.0	55.3	60.5	66.7	64.7
Hearings	Standard Deviation Weeks	22.2	15.6	28.0	13.6	18.5	17.9	34.2	31.1	27.9	46.6	33.7	47.4	29.8
Inquiries	Decisions	7	16	16	31	19	20	37	8	7	28	13	34	236
Inquiries	Mean Average Weeks	108.7	81.8	73.8	71.3	104.9	90.6	104.1	101.6	117.6	107.6	60.9	87.3	90.7
Inquiries	Median Average Weeks	125.3	86.7	62.4	66.0	108.0	92.9	122.3	94.5	147.4	118.3	48.0	90.9	90.9
Inquiries	Standard Deviation Weeks	23.2	26.8	20.3	21.4	30.7	35.0	34.9	32.0	52.2	26.8	27.1	15.4	32.5
All Cases	Decisions	112	149	100	161	200	179	187	148	154	193	160	208	1,951
All Cases	Mean Average Weeks	42.7	41.7	47.6	40.6	45.7	42.7	54.5	40.7	43.7	53.5	45.0	49.5	45.9
All Cases	Median Average Weeks	34.9	31.0	35.2	28.3	38.9	32.3	41.6	33.2	34.0	39.9	39.1	37.5	35.9
All Cases	Standard Deviation Weeks	26.7	26.3	29.4	28.9	29.7	29.4	38.3	26.3	30.1	37.6	26.4	32.4	31.0

• The mean and median measures for enforcement written representation decisions show considerable variation month to month but no clear trend. The mean for January 2022 was 4.3 weeks lower than December 2021.
• The time to decision for enforcement hearings and inquiries is generally more than twice the time for written representation decisions.
• Enforcement hearings show variable trends for all three measures; mean, median and standard deviation. There are smaller numbers of decisions for this casework / procedure group that can influence these measures.
• Enforcement inquiries are generally taking longer than they were a year ago. As with planning hearings, the effect of the pandemic is evident in these measures. Also, this grouping can be disproportionately affected by cases that involve multiple linked appeals (for example multiple people served an enforcement notice by a local authority appeal to The Planning Inspectorate, each person appealing is treated as a separate appeal, but all appeals are decided in one decision letter by one Inspector).

Specialist

Note: where there are fewer than 20 decisions, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to all months’ hearings decisions; and all months inquiries decisions.

Note 2: This table includes revisions to previously published data. Please see Annex F for further information

Specialist	Measure	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Jan-22	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	88	47	42	58	59	42	49	29	47	27	57	41	586
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	52.8	26.7	32.2	22.8	34.5	28.3	28.6	45.9	46.6	21.3	36.1	32.6	35.9
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	53.1	14.9	21.7	15.4	26.9	20.4	17.3	25.1	30.4	17.3	24.9	28.0	24.9
Written Representations	Standard Deviation Weeks	24.5	26.7	28.2	18.9	25.4	21.9	24.7	36.3	35.5	14.7	27.5	26.2	28.6
Hearings	Decisions	1	2	2	1	2	0	3	0	0	1	2	3	17
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	65.0	80.0	82.1	60.0	100.8	-	78.3	-	-	101.9	101.9	93.2	87.0
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	65.0	80.0	82.1	60.0	100.8	-	95.0	-	-	101.9	101.9	130.1	95.0
Hearings	Standard Deviation Weeks	0.0	16.3	12.9	0.0	7.1	-	31.5	-	-	0.0	26.2	58.0	31.0
Inquiries	Decisions	3	1	1	1	0	4	3	2	3	3	2	3	26
Inquiries	Mean Average Weeks	77.6	18.0	85.1	100.0	-	90.2	84.6	75.2	84.7	101.2	113.9	84.0	82.4
Inquiries	Median Average Weeks	81.9	18.0	85.1	100.0	-	94.3	88.4	75.2	105.3	84.9	113.9	95.1	85.0
Inquiries	Standard Deviation Weeks	19.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	9.6	11.5	8.2	33.7	28.9	15.6	29.6	27.6
All Cases	Decisions	92	50	45	60	61	46	55	31	50	31	61	47	629
All Cases	Mean Average Weeks	53.7	28.7	35.6	24.7	36.6	33.7	34.4	47.8	48.9	31.6	40.8	39.7	39.4
All Cases	Median Average Weeks	53.6	14.9	21.9	15.9	28.0	22.4	17.7	30.3	32.1	19.6	27.1	29.1	27.4
All Cases	Standard Deviation Weeks	24.7	28.2	30.1	21.6	27.7	27.4	29.6	35.9	36.6	31.5	32.5	35.0	31.3

• The number of decisions for Specialist cases is low (see Table 4), and this makes it less easy to identify trends for Specialist cases decided by hearings and inquiries.
• The highest volume of decisions is against Written Representations, and over the last 12 months the volume and time measures see variable trends.
• The time to decision for specialist hearings and inquiries is generally more than twice the time for written representation decisions.
• The median for time to specialist written representation decision varies between 15 weeks (March 21) and 53 weeks (February 21). The mean average has a low of 21 weeks (November 21) and a high of 53 weeks (February 21).

Annex C: Detailed Information on timeliness (January 2022)

The information below is published today on the number and length of decisions made in January 2022 :

Note: when there are fewer than 20 decisions the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to the 20 the 17 enforcement appeals managed through hearings.

Casework Type	Procedure Type	Mean (weeks)	Median (weeks)	Decisions
s78 planning appeals	Written Representations	31.5	30.3	555
s78 planning appeals	Hearings	72.2	57.3	31
s78 planning appeals	Inquiries	41.4	32.5	20
Householder appeals	Written Representations	19.6	18.1	447
Enforcement appeals	Written Representations	38.1	29.9	108
Enforcement appeals	Hearings	86.1	67.3	17
Enforcement appeals	Inquiries	87.3	90.9	34

The smaller the number of decisions, the less helpful the mean and median are as measures for summarising performance. Particular care should be taken when there are fewer than twenty decisions. These are shaded grey in the table but have been provided for completeness and transparency.

The information published below shows the time taken for different stages of the appeals process:

Note: when there are fewer than 20 decisions the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to the 18 inquiries with start dates in January 2022

Note 1: s78 refers to section 78 planning appeals

Measure	s78 Written Representations [Note 1]	s78 Hearings	s78 Inquiries	Householder appeals
Weeks between valid date & start date
Mean (average)	13.0	24.8	3.6	5.7
Median (average)	13.1	22.8	3.1	4.1
Cases that started in December 2021	931	28	18	540
Weeks between start date & event date
Mean (average)	13.1	25.5	16.5	8.5
Median (average)	10.7	18.7	14.8	7.0
Cases where an event occurred during December 2021	746	24	20	505
Weeks between event date & decision date
Mean (average)	5.2	11.9	14.1	3.8
Median (average)	4.1	8.4	9.9	3.1
Cases that have been decided in December 2021	549	31	20	445

Explanation of date terminology

Dates	Description
Valid date	When a case is deemed to have been validly received.
Valid date	Note – this is not always the date the case was validated. If a case is validated  after the date it was validly received, it is the date it was validly received that is the valid date.
Start date	When a timetable, on how the appeal will progress, is issued to both the appellant and local authority. This timetable tells the appellant when to submit the information the Inspectors need to determine the appeal. It also tells the local authority when to notify interested parties about the appeal.
Event date	When the site visit, hearing, or inquiry occurred.
Decision date	When the decision was issued by The Planning Inspectorate.

Annex D: Casework types included in thos release

Planning covers s78 planning appeals, Householder appeals, Commercial appeals, s20 Listed Building appeals, Advertisement appeals, s106 Planning Obligation appeals and Called In Planning Applications.

Enforcement covers s174 Enforcement appeals, s39 Enforcement Listed Building appeals and Lawful Development Certificate appeals.

Specialist casework includes Common Land, Rights of Way orders (including Schedule 14 cases), Purchase orders, Tree Preservation Orders, High Hedges appeals and Hedgerow appeals. (Note that the data on Open Cases in previous publications excluded Tree Preservation Orders and High Hedges and Hedgerow appeals.)

Annex E: Revisions to the data tables

This Annex lists all revisions made to the data since the last statistical release.

Note: Classed as a revision are any values which have changed by more than five (when measuring number of decisions/ cases) or more than 0.5 weeks (for mean, median or standard deviation of weeks).

Table	Revisions
Table 1	Event held, November and December 21
Table 2	Received: August, October, November and December 21
Table 2	Open Cases: February 21 to December 21
Table 6	Mean average weeks: October 2021
Table 6	Median average weeks: October 2021
Table  7	Median weeks enforcement and specialist November 21
Annex B	Planning  Written Representations Decisions: February 21, May 21 and November 21.
Annex B	Planning Hearing Decisions:  February 2021
Annex B	Planning Hearings Median average weeks, February 2021
Annex B	Enforcement Written Representations Decisions November 2021
Annex B	Enforcement Written Representations Median Average time November 2021.
Annex B	Enforcement  Hearings Decisions October 2021
Annex B	Enforcement  Hearings Median Average time October 2021
Annex B	Enforcement Hearing Mean Average time October 2021
Annex B	Specialist Written Representations Decisions November 2021

Background Notes

Data sources

Horizon / Picaso – The main casework management systems used for processing appeals casework (note that Picaso is no longer a live system). SAP HR – The Human Resources system database used to store all information regarding members of staff.

Compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

These statistics have been published in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, which cover trustworthiness, quality, and value. They have been pre-announced, and publication is overseen by the Head of Profession.

Technical Notes

A Background Quality Report is published alongside this Statistical Release. It provides more detail on the quality of statistics in this publication.

Term	Explanation
Data quality	Data on cases is taken from a live casework system, and details of cases can change for a number of reasons even after a decision has been made. We are seeking to get a better understanding of the nature and volume of these changes and will provide further information as it is available.
Data quality	We carry out regular checks on the quality of our data and may undertake ad hoc data cleansing exercises.  Therefore, all the data for the last 12 rolling months is published in provisional form.
Data quality	We have indicated in this publication any data where a number of cases has changed by more than five cases in a month; or where a measure (mean, median or standard deviation) has changed by more than 0.5 weeks.
Measuring weeks	Data are measured in days and then converted to weeks.
Measuring weeks	Note that not all decimal values are possible where converting days to weeks. 1 day is 1/7 of a week, or 0.14 weeks (to two decimal places). 2 days = 0.29; 3 days = 0.43; 4 days = 0.57; 5 days = 0.71; 6 days = 0.86.
Measuring weeks	When these are used to calculate averages, or displayed to one decimal place, the result will not equate to a full day which can be misleading: it may appear that we are measuring part days (e.g. 19.8 weeks) but we only measure in whole days.

Glossary

Term	Explanation
Appeals	The right to appeal a planning decision made by a local authority is a key feature of the planning system, as is appealing when an authority is taking too long.
Appeals decided	Number of appeals by the date the appeal was decided by The Planning Inspectorate.
Appeals received	Number of appeals by the date the appeal was received by The Planning Inspectorate.
Applications	Planning Inspectorate manage the application process for proposed Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) within England and Wales in line with the 2008 Planning Act.
Closed	The total number of appeals decided, withdrawn, or turned away.
Decision	The outcome of the case e.g. appeal allowed or rejected. The date of the decision is taken as the date a decision letter is sent to the appellant.
Event	A site visit, hearing, or inquiry (may be virtual)
Event Type	The different options of how an Inspector visits a site for a written representations appeal.
Examinations	The process of examining local plans is dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate. Every Local Planning Authority is required to have a local plan.  This includes a vision for the future and plan to address housing needs in the area.
Examinations	When a Local Planning Authority has finished preparing and consulting on a local plan it must be submitted to the Secretary of State who appoints an Inspector to carry out an independent examination.
FTE	Full Time Equivalent – a count of employees where those working part time are counted in proportion with their contracted hours.
Headcount	Total number of staff employed regardless of how many hours they work (i.e. the number of different individuals).
Hearings	A hearing involves the submission of written evidence by the main parties and a hearing once all the written submissions have been received.
Hearings	This takes the form of a round-the-table discussion (in person or virtually) that will be led by the planning inspector. It allows for all parties to respond to any questions that the inspector might have, and to let everyone make their case known.
Hearings	Source: Planning Portal
Inquiries	An inquiry is usually used for complex cases where legal issues may need to be considered. The main parties will usually have legal representatives to present their case and to cross-examine any witnesses. Prior to the inquiry date, the Planning Inspectorate will expect to have received various documents from all parties that will be taking part in the appeal. These may include statements of case and proofs of evidence from expert witnesses. Third parties may also take part. The inquiry will be led by the inspector and will follow a formal procedure.
Inquiries	At some point during or on conclusion of the inquiry the inspector and the main parties will undertake a site visit.
Inquiries	Source: Planning Portal
Live appeals	Number of live appeals in that have an appeal valid date but no end date (either decision date or a closed date, e.g. for appeals that have been withdrawn).
Mean	The total time taken divided by the number of cases. Also referred to as the ‘average’. A measure of how long each case would take, if the total time taken was spread evenly across all cases.
Median	This is the time taken by the ‘middle’ case if all cases were sorted from quickest to longest
Open Cases	Number of cases that have been received but on which a decision has not yet been made/ issued. Will differ from Live Appeals as it includes those received but not yet verified.
Procedure Type	The method by which The Planning Inspectorate processes and decides appeals.
Standard deviation	This is a measure of variability or spread. It is calculated by examining how much each value differs from the mean. A higher standard deviation means the individual decision times vary more widely around the mean.
Written Representations	Most planning appeals are decided by the written representations’ procedure. With this procedure the Inspector considers written evidence from the appellant, the LPA and anyone else who has an interest in the appeal. The site is also likely to be visited.

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