Official Statistics

Planning Inspectorate statistical release 27 April 2023

Published 27 April 2023

Applies to England

1. 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.

The Planning Inspectorate has identified a data issue for Tree Preservation Order (TPO) appeals.

• TPOs represent around 3% of appeals casework.
• These are a type of specialist casework that is recorded in a non-standard way.
• Some TPO data has been inadvertently excluded from data processing
• This particularly affects our counts of appeals received; and of open cases.

Consequently, for TPO cases in this release

• The counts of received cases numbers and open cases numbers exclude all TPOs. We expect these counts to later be revised upwards once we can include these appeals.
• Counts of open cases, counts of decided cases, and decision times that include TPO are marked as provisional. TPO are included but their numbers are being checked and may need to be revised later.

An update on TPO data will be provided next month – at which point some past data will be revised as appropriate in line with published revisions procedure

These statistics are produced each month and the focus is on timeliness of decision-making, an area of particular interest for stakeholders. 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 April 2022 to March 2023
• The time taken to reach decisions
• Number of open cases
• Number of Inspectors

Also included within this bulletin are brief comments on additional tables published today which give quarterly data on low-volume casework and detail on high-volume areas – including the percentage of appeals allowed. These quarterly tables, and some annual tables, are published alongside this release to ensure an orderly release of the information.

1.1 The Planning Inspectorate

The Planning Inspectorate makes decisions and provides recommendations and advice on a range of land use planning-related issues across England.

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

2. Summary

2.1 Time to decide cases

The median decision time for cases decided in March 2023 was 29 weeks.

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

Procedure type	Last 12 months	March 2023
Written Representations	27 weeks	28 weeks
Hearings	58 weeks	47 weeks
Inquiries	50 weeks	204 weeks
All Cases	28 weeks	29 weeks

The long median time for inquiries was due to over 30 linked enforcement cases that took longer than usual to determine. The median time to decide for 11 months ending February 2023 was 45 weeks.

The median time for planning cases was 26 weeks in March 2023, with the 12 month median being 27 weeks.

Enforcement decisions made in March 2023 had a median decision time of 68 weeks, with the 12 month median being 54 weeks.

The median time for planning appeals decided by inquiry under the Rosewell Process over the 12 months to March 2023 is 34 weeks.

2.2 Decisions

The Planning Inspectorate made 17,332 appeal decisions in the last 12 months, an average of 1,444 per month. The number of decisions in March 2023 was 1,668.

There were 1,519 written representations decisions in March 2023 which is the highest number since April 2022; and 15,906 in the last 12 months.

There were 898 decisions made on hearings during the last 12 months, and during March 2023, 82 decisions were issued.

There were 528 decisions made on inquiries during the last 12 months, with 67 in March 2023.

2.3 Planning Inspectors

There were 421 Planning Inspectors employed by the Inspectorate at the end of March 2023.

3. Decisions, Events and Open Cases

The number of decisions issued in March 2023 was 1,668, 224 more decisions than the monthly average over the past 12 months.

The number of events recorded for March 2023 was 1,306, the average over the past 12 months was 1,341.

The median valid to decision time was 29 weeks in March 2023, as seen in Figure 1 and Table 1 below.

There are no clear trends for the number of events and decisions per month. However, the Christmas and Easter breaks do impact on the number of events arranged during December and April.

Figure 1: Number of events held , decisions issued and median time between valid date & decision date; April 2022 to March 2023

Source: Horizon, Picaso, Inspector Scheduling System

Note 1: The process and admin system used for events data has changed from April 2022. See Background Quality Report for more information

Note 2: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Table 1: Number of events held, decisions issued and median time between valid date & decision date; April 2022 to March 2023

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

Note 2: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Month	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Events Held	1,035	1,295	1,216	1,223	1,429	1,383	1,299	1,673	954	1,723	1,555	1,306	16,091
Decisions	1,249	1,409	1,189	1,425	1,472	1,264	1,457	1,577	1,544	1,468	1,610	1,668	17,332
Median	25.7	28.0	27.0	25.9	26.9	29.0	28.7	30.7	30.4	31.1	28.7	29.2	28.4

Source: Horizon, Picaso, Inspector Scheduling System.

Figure 2 below shows the number of cases received, closed and open for each of the last 12 months. After rising last year, the number of open cases has been reducing over recent months as more cases are being closed than received.

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; April 2022 to March 2023

Source: Horizon and Picaso

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. The inspectorate are Investigating how to introduce new processes to improve the quality of this data which once complete may result in revisions to the number of open cases.

Note 2: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Table 2: Number of cases received, closed and open; April 2022 to March 2023

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

Note 2: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Month	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Received	1,631	1,973	1,712	1,702	1,642	1,730	1,792	1,823	1,558	1,629	1,541	1,861	20,594
Closed	1,413	1,627	1,381	1,603	1,667	1,423	1,659	1,802	1,738	1,700	1,779	1,860	19,652
Open	13,182	13,496	13,878	13,975	13,964	14,238	14,438	14,455	14,342	14,329	14,060	14,086

Source: Horizon and Picaso

4. Number of Decisions

The Planning Inspectorate has made 17,332 appeal decisions in the last 12 months. There were 1,668 cases decided in March 2023.

Table 3 below shows the monthly breakdown with fewer decisions for the months of April, June and September 2022.

Table 3: Appeal Decisions; April 2022 to March 2023

Month	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Decisions	1,249	1,409	1,189	1,425	1,472	1,264	1,457	1,577	1,544	1,468	1,610	1,668	17,332

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Figure 3 – Appeal Decisions; April 2022 to March 2023

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Note 1: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

4.1 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 (15,906) were made on written representations. This is ninety two percent of all appeal decisions made. Table 4 shows that written representation decisions has varied from around 1,100 to over 1,500 per month over the past 12 months. There were 1,668 decisions in March 2023.

There were 898 decisions made on hearings during the last 12 months, the monthly average being 72. During March 2023 82 decisions were issued. In March 2023 67 decisions were made for inquiries. Decisions for inquiries since April 2022 have ranged between 24 and 80.

Note 1: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Table 4: Appeal Decisions by Procedure and Casework Category; April 2022 to March 2023

Month	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Written Representations	1,153	1,285	1,101	1,337	1,353	1,171	1,373	1,456	1,341	1,328	1,489	1,519	15,906
Hearings	65	89	54	62	39	69	53	89	157	64	75	82	898
Inquiries	31	35	34	26	80	24	31	32	46	76	46	67	528
Total	1,249	1,409	1,189	1,425	1,472	1,264	1,457	1,577	1,544	1,468	1,610	1,668	17,332
Month	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Planning	979	1,142	999	1,171	1,156	1,014	1,260	1,337	1,294	1,225	1,399	1,393	14,369
Enforcement	174	215	138	166	224	184	142	174	193	184	170	238	2,202
Specialist	96	52	52	88	92	66	55	66	57	59	41	37	761
Total	1,249	1,409	1,189	1,425	1,472	1,264	1,457	1,577	1,544	1,468	1,610	1,668	17,332

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 served by a local planning authority for alleged breaches of planning control), enforcement listed building notice appeals and lawful development certificate appeals.

What are Specialist cases?

Specialist casework includes Common Land, Rights of Way orders (including Schedule 14 cases), Purchase orders, Tree Preservation Orders (excludes receipts), High Hedges appeals, Hedgerow appeals, Wayleave, Compulsory Purchase Orders, Secretary of State, Transport, Environmental Permitting Appeals and Coastal Access. Additional casework types have been added to this category over time.

The large majority of cases over the past 12 months were planning (14,369). This is about eighty-three per cent of all appeal decisions made. There were 2,202 enforcement decisions and 761 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 average number of enforcement decisions over the past 12 months was 184. March 2023 had the most enforcement decisions of the last 12 months. Specialist casework figures continue to vary each month, from a high of 96 in April 2022 to a low of 37 in March 2023.

Figure 4 – Appeal Decisions by Procedure and Casework Category; April 2022 to March 2023

Appeal Decisions by Procedure

Appeal Decision by Casework Type

Source: Horizon and Picaso

5. Decision Timeliness

It is important for people to know how long an appeal is going to take, so that they can make informed plans and decisions. 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 median time to make a decision, across all cases in the last 12 months, was 28 weeks; and 29 weeks for March 2023. Figure 5 shows the median has been between 25 and 31 weeks for each of 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. This means that any delay in ‘validating’ the appeal is included in the time to make a decision.

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 long appeals submitted, or deemed ‘valid’ in that month, will take.

Table 5 also shows the mean decision time for the last 12 months is 35 weeks. Each month the median is less than the mean, due to the impact of very long cases. Also included in the table is the standard deviation of decision timeliness, which is a measure of variation.

What are mean, median and standard deviation?

Month	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Valid to Decision (median weeks)	25.7	28.0	27.0	25.9	26.9	29.0	28.7	30.7	30.4	31.1	28.7	29.2	28.4
Valid to Decision (mean weeks)	31.3	36.3	32.9	33.2	33.7	34.4	33.2	36.5	35.7	36.7	34.2	39.5	34.9
Standard Deviation (weeks)	24.8	31.2	25.1	27.0	23.2	22.8	19.8	22.4	22.0	24.1	22.6	35.1	25.5

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Figure 5: Median and mean Time to Decision; April 2022 to March 2023

Source: Horizon and Picaso

5.1 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 roughly 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 a small number of large values than mean times, so are the focus of this commentary. The median time for written representations over the 12 months to March 2023 is 27 weeks. The median time for hearings over the 12 months to March 2023 is 58 weeks. The long median time for inquiries (205 weeks) was due to 30 linked enforcement cases that took longer than usual to determine. The median time to decide for 11 months ending February 2023 was 45 weeks.

Table 6: Mean and Median Time to Decision, with Standard Deviation, by Procedure; April 2022 to March 2023

Note 1: where the number of decisions issued is fewer than 20, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful.

Note 2: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Measure	Procedure	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Written Representations	24.4	27.0	26.1	25.1	26.0	28.4	28.4	30.1	29.1	29.7	27.9	28.1	27.4
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Hearings	108.3	94.0	61.0	58.2	63.0	41.1	40.9	51.0	54.4	60.0	45.0	46.6	57.9
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Inquiries	38.4	44.3	39.6	29.6	68.6	36.5	29.6	41.1	38.6	74.4	58.0	204.6	50.4
Valid to decision (median weeks)	All Cases	25.7	28.0	27.0	25.9	26.9	29.0	28.7	30.7	30.4	31.1	28.7	29.2	28.4
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Written Representations	27.2	30.4	29.7	30.3	30.7	32.8	32.5	34.8	32.8	33.3	31.9	34.1	31.8
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Hearings	90.8	112.3	86.7	85.3	67.8	51.4	45.1	56.5	58.6	62.0	53.9	57.3	68.4
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Inquiries	57.7	57.7	51.3	58.6	67.6	62.3	44.3	58.4	42.1	73.6	76.0	139.6	71.2
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	All Cases	31.3	36.3	32.9	33.2	33.7	34.4	33.2	36.5	35.7	36.7	34.2	39.5	34.9
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Written Representations	17.2	18.4	17.1	20.8	19.1	20.1	18.6	19.7	18.1	18.1	17.5	20.7	19.0
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Hearings	37.6	59.8	61.7	55.6	43.1	31.5	24.8	34.7	35.6	31.3	38.8	40.9	46.5
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Inquiries	46.2	36.7	35.4	53.7	30.6	54.9	40.8	43.4	18.3	50.6	54.6	88.7	58.0
Standard Deviation (weeks)	All Cases	24.8	31.2	25.1	27.0	23.2	22.8	19.8	22.4	22.0	24.1	22.6	35.1	25.5
Decisions	Written Representations	1,153	1,285	1,101	1,337	1,353	1,171	1,373	1,456	1,341	1,328	1,489	1,519	15,906
Decisions	Hearings	65	89	54	62	39	69	53	89	157	64	75	82	898
Decisions	Inquiries	31	35	34	26	80	24	31	32	46	76	46	67	528
Decisions	Total	1,249	1,409	1,189	1,425	1,472	1,264	1,457	1,577	1,544	1,468	1,610	1,668	17,332

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 has been quite stable over recent months, whereas hearings and enquiries have experienced considerable month to month changes in the spread of decision times.

5.2 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 has been 24 weeks and above for each of the last twelve months.

Table 7: Decisions, Mean, Median and Standard Deviation of Time to Decision – Planning, Enforcement, Specialist Cases; April 2022 to March 2023

Appeal Type	Measure	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Planning Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	24.9	27.0	26.0	25.0	25.1	27.0	27.4	29.1	28.9	28.3	26.1	26.1	26.9
Planning Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	26.6	30.3	29.3	29.1	28.7	30.8	30.6	33.0	31.4	31.5	30.7	31.5	30.4
Planning Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	15.3	21.6	17.8	20.4	17.7	18.2	15.9	17.6	16.0	16.3	17.8	18.6	17.9
Enforcement Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	48.0	56.1	40.9	42.2	58.6	44.7	44.1	52.1	62.4	63.4	53.3	67.6	54.3
Enforcement Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	59.7	66.6	56.3	56.8	56.1	51.1	50.5	59.6	62.0	67.9	59.1	85.8	61.9
Enforcement Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	40.8	50.0	47.0	40.9	29.6	29.3	26.7	32.3	31.5	36.6	35.3	62.0	41.6
Specialist Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	12.7	28.4	29.8	24.7	30.9	29.4	34.7	35.3	27.0	36.9	41.7	25.7	29.4
Specialist Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	27.4	42.0	41.1	44.6	41.6	43.2	47.5	49.0	44.7	46.3	49.7	41.7	42.3
Specialist Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	30.0	35.0	27.0	41.5	30.4	37.5	40.0	35.0	34.3	32.8	30.6	39.1	35.1

Source: Horizon and Picaso.

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

Enforcement decisions made in the past 12 months had a median decision time of 54 weeks.

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 time to decision for specialist decisions have been shorter than enforcement decisions, and quite similar to the median for planning decisions.

Figure 6 – Median Time to Decision by Casework Category: April 2022 to March 2023

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 B for further details.

5.3 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 under Rosewell process over the 12 months to March 2023 is 30 weeks and the median time to decision for March 2023 was 29 weeks.

Table 8: Decisions, Mean and Median Time to Decision, Planning Inquiry Cases under Rosewell Process; April 2022 to March 2023

Note 1: where there are fewer than 20 decisions, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful

Measure	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Decisions	14	24	21	13	18	11	22	19	38	22	15	18	235
Median (weeks)	30.2	32.1	31.0	23.3	26.0	28.6	25.9	29.4	38.6	28.6	31.7	29.4	29.9
Mean (weeks)	35.5	41.6	33.0	23.9	30.9	29.5	29.1	38.0	36.9	31.0	40.2	33.5	34.2
St. Dev. (weeks)	13.6	19.2	9.8	4.6	14.0	9.4	11.0	20.8	6.5	10.3	29.2	13.4	15.2

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; April 2022 to March 2023

Note: Number of decisions for September is affected by decisions being recorded after statistics downloaded.

Month	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Decisions	3	1	1	2	3	0	1	1	1	3	5	3	24

Source: Horizon

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

Figure 7: Mean and Median Time to Decision, Rosewell Inquiry Process; April 2022 to March 2023

6. Open Cases

At the end of March 2023, the Planning Inspectorate had 14,086 cases open ; the number of open cases peaked at 14,455 in November 2022. More information on the number of open cases, and how it has changed over the past 12 months, is in Table 2 and Figure 2 above.

The open cases comprised of 12,644 cases being handled through written representations; 770 through hearings; and 621 through inquiries, as well as 51 not currently allocated a procedure type. 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 March 2023

Note 1: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Stage	Written Representations	Hearings	Inquiries	Total
Cases received but yet to be deemed valid	1,985	29	10	2,024
Cases deemed valid but yet to ‘start’	2,862	132	98	3,127
Case started but event (site visit/hearing/inquiry) has not yet happened	7,754	571	483	8,821
Event has happened/started  but decision not yet issued	43	38	30	114
Total	12,644	770	621	14,086

Source: Horizon

Note 1 - there are 51 cases that have no procedure type recorded (see Background Quality Report for more detail) These are included in the total but excluded from the breakdown by procedure.

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. The inspectorate are investigating how to introduce new processes to improve the quality of this data which once complete may result in revisions to the number of open cases.

7. Inspectors

Table 11 below shows the number of inspectors in the Planning Inspectorate in each month from March 2022 to February 2023 . 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 421 Planning Inspectors employed by the Inspectorate in February 2023 – with a full-time equivalent of 374.

Table 11: Planning Inspectors – Headcount and FTE; April 2022 to March 2023 (at end of month)

Source: SAP HR

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

8. 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 C and the separate Background Quality Report.

9. Quarterly Statistics

The Inspectorate has also published a series of tables of quarterly data.  Some of the data published is on casework types that The Planning Inspectorate deals with that are larger in scale, but smaller in volume, than the appeals decisions that are the subject of the preceding sections of these statistics.  The best examples of this are Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects and Local Plans, where volumes never go into the hundreds, and the time between submission to report issue can be over a year. Other data breaks appeals down into more detail than in the monthly totals.

9.1 Appeals against refusal of Planning Permission (Section 78 appeals)

The largest volume of casework dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate are appeals against refusal of Planning Permission, which are made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The analysis below deals with just this casework type although figures for other casework types can be found in the published quarterly statistics.

9.2 Number of appeals received compared to decisions issued.

In the last twelve months, April 2022 to March 2023, there have been 10,673 Section 78 planning appeals (s78) received, which is exactly the same as 10,673 for the period April 2021 to March 2022.

In the last five complete financial years (April 2018 to March 2023) the highest level of quarterly receipts (3,203) occurred in April to June 2019 and the highest number of decisions (3,705) was in July to September 2019. Over the past year the average number of receipts per quarter was 2,668 and the average number of decisions per quarter was 2,298.

The number of appeals received in January to March 2023 (2,623) was 1.8% lower than the same period in 2022. Appeal receipts since the pandemic started average 2,682 per quarter (April 20 to March 23). During 2019, the last 4 quarters before the pandemic, the Inspectorate received an average of 2,923 appeals per quarter.

Figure 8: Number of s78 Planning appeal, receipts and decisions, 2018/19 to 2022/23, by quarter

Source: Horizon & Picaso.  Full published data in Tables 2.1 and Table 2.4.

See Annex E, Table A, for full data table. 

The number of decisions issued in January to March 2023, was 4.6% lower than the previous quarter but 8.5% more than the corresponding quarter last year.

9.3 Appeals Allowed

The percentage of Section 78 planning appeals that were allowed in the latest quarter was 30%, a slight rise from 28% in the previous quarter (see figure 9) There were 743 appeals allowed between January and March 2023, almost the same number as the previous quarter.(see Figure 11).

The consistency in the overall percentage allowed is heavily influenced by the number of written representations appeals allowed, as this procedure type contributes by far the greatest number of decisions each year. There has been slightly more variation in the percentage allowed for hearings and inquiries. See Figure 10 below for further details.

Figure 9: S78 planning appeals, percentage allowed, 2018/19 to 2022/23, by quarter

Source: Horizon & Picaso.  Full published data in Table 2.4 s78 planning appeals decided. 

See Annex E, Table B, for full data table 

Figure 10: S78 planning appeals, percentage allowed by procedure type, 2018/19 to 2022/23, by quarter

Source: Horizon & Picaso.  Full published data in Table 2.4 s78 planning appeals decided. 

See Annex E, Table B, for full data table 

Figure 11: S78 planning appeals, number of appeals allowed, 2018/19 to 2022/23, by quarter 

Source: Horizon & Picaso.  Full published data in Table 2.4 s78 planning appeals decided. 

See Annex E, Table C, for full data table 

10. Annual Statistics

For some low volume casework types the Inspectorate publishes the number of cases received and decided annually. We also publish annually the number of appeals decided and allowed by Local Planning Authority and by Decision Maker.

In 2022/23 there were significant increases in the number of Advert appeals and Commercial Appeal Service (CAS) appeals received (compared to 2021/22) and significant decreases in the number of High Hedges and Rights of Way cases received (compared to 2021/22). (See published tables 2.7, 2.8, 3.3 and 4.1 for full details.)

The Local Planning Authorities with the highest number of planning appeals (s78 & HAS) decided in 2022/23 were London Borough (LB) of Barnet (236), LB Bromley (232), LB Croydon (210), Leeds City (193) and Cornwall (151). The Local Planning Authority with the highest number of Enforcement appeals decided in 2022/23 was LB Brent (111) followed by LB Barnet (86) and LB Havering (86). (See published tables 5.1a – 5.1f for full details.)

11. Annex A - Mean and median time to decide, 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 April, July, September 2022 and February 2023 for inquiries decisions

Planning	Measure	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	931	1,074	940	1,110	1,108	956	1,196	1,254	1,172	1,161	1,325	1,312	13,539
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	24.3	26.3	25.4	24.4	24.9	26.9	27.4	29.0	28.1	28.1	26.1	25.9	26.4
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	25.2	27.6	27.7	26.9	27.9	30.1	30.3	32.3	30.4	30.9	29.9	30.6	29.3
Written Representations	Standard Deviation Weeks	12.2	13.7	14.5	13.9	15.7	17.2	15.6	16.4	14.3	15.3	15.9	17.0	15.4
Hearings	Decisions	31	43	37	46	27	47	41	63	83	39	54	60	571
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	53.0	61.4	51.1	55.9	42.6	38.3	32.0	39.0	34.3	44.7	25.4	41.6	43.4
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	64.8	90.0	66.4	81.2	55.4	45.8	39.7	44.8	42.9	48.5	41.8	48.2	53.9
Hearings	Standard Deviation Weeks	34.9	58.4	41.6	55.3	43.0	30.5	23.1	30.1	29.5	27.5	31.6	32.8	40.1
Inquiries	Decisions	17	25	22	15	21	11	23	20	39	25	20	21	259
Inquiries	Median Average Weeks	33.7	33.6	31.1	24.0	26.0	28.6	25.9	29.4	38.6	29.7	32.5	31.1	30.9
Inquiries	Mean Average Weeks	37.4	45.3	34.6	29.4	37.5	29.5	28.5	41.2	38.6	35.6	55.5	42.0	38.4
Inquiries	Standard Deviation Weeks	13.7	26.1	12.0	14.8	27.2	9.4	11.1	24.6	12.4	19.2	41.4	30.9	23.2
All Cases	Decisions	979	1,142	999	1,171	1,156	1,014	1,260	1,337	1,294	1,225	1,399	1,393	14,369
All Cases	Median Average Weeks	24.9	27.0	26.0	25.0	25.1	27.0	27.4	29.1	28.9	28.3	26.1	26.1	26.9
All Cases	Mean Average Weeks	26.6	30.3	29.3	29.1	28.7	30.8	30.6	33.0	31.4	31.5	30.7	31.5	30.4
All Cases	Standard Deviation Weeks	15.3	21.6	17.8	20.4	17.7	18.2	15.9	17.6	16.0	16.3	17.8	18.6	17.9

Enforcement

Note: where there are fewer than 20 decisions, the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to all months for hearing other than April, May and November 2022 decisions and all months for inquiry decisions other than August 2022 and January.February and March 2023.

Enforcement	Measure	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	131	165	119	153	164	159	128	145	119	122	131	176	1,712
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	36.7	45.7	37.3	39.6	40.0	44.4	39.7	49.3	53.7	53.5	47.7	58.1	46.1
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	44.8	47.6	43.1	53.0	46.3	48.1	49.0	54.1	54.1	56.7	50.4	60.7	50.8
Written Representations	Standard Deviation Weeks	29.1	28.6	24.2	36.3	25.3	23.4	26.9	28.5	27.7	23.6	20.5	24.8	27.4
Hearings	Decisions	31	43	11	10	6	14	11	20	71	15	17	21	270
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	118.9	170.3	223.7	75.0	99.6	39.7	53.7	93.0	68.1	74.7	73.6	69.3	83.9
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	111.8	136.5	165.3	107.1	101.1	57.5	64.6	85.5	75.2	80.8	87.9	84.1	95.8
Hearings	Standard Deviation Weeks	19.0	52.8	70.8	64.4	25.4	30.0	22.2	19.6	33.1	22.3	40.8	50.1	48.2
Inquiries	Decisions	12	7	8	3	54	11	3	9	3	47	22	41	220
Inquiries	Median Average Weeks	49.3	78.0	96.1	52.7	68.6	62.3	67.6	58.6	45.1	82.0	72.6	224.3	82.0
Inquiries	Mean Average Weeks	88.5	86.7	103.3	81.7	80.9	85.9	61.2	89.2	63.4	92.9	89.0	194.1	106.9
Inquiries	Standard Deviation Weeks	60.7	37.2	35.9	43.7	22.2	62.5	12.2	57.6	28.7	51.4	61.9	62.9	65.2
All Cases	Decisions	174	215	138	166	224	184	142	174	193	184	170	238	2,202
All Cases	Median Average Weeks	48.0	56.1	40.9	42.2	58.6	44.7	44.1	52.1	62.4	63.4	53.3	67.6	54.3
All Cases	Mean Average Weeks	59.7	66.6	56.3	56.8	56.1	51.1	50.5	59.6	62.0	67.9	59.1	85.8	61.9
All Cases	Standard Deviation Weeks	40.8	50.0	47.0	40.9	29.6	29.3	26.7	32.3	31.5	36.6	35.3	62.0	41.6

Specialist

Note 1: 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: The that number of cases received, decided and open, exclude TPOs – see the start of this document and the Background Quality report for more information

Specialist	Measure	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sep-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	91	46	42	74	81	56	49	57	50	45	33	31	655
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	11.3	24.4	24.6	22.6	27.9	25.9	33.9	32.1	26.9	30.3	34.1	23.0	26.4
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	23.2	35.5	37.0	35.1	37.4	36.3	41.4	42.9	39.7	33.7	40.2	31.8	35.4
Written Representations	Standard Deviation Weeks	22.1	28.7	26.7	30.5	27.6	33.2	30.7	29.7	30.5	20.4	22.3	24.8	28.2
Hearings	Decisions	3	3	6	6	6	8	1	6	3	10	4	1	57
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	141.0	90.9	71.4	76.4	82.6	67.5	50.4	60.6	85.1	88.5	75.6	43.1	75.4
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	141.5	85.7	68.0	80.7	90.5	73.5	50.4	83.6	101.4	86.6	72.5	43.1	83.5
Hearings	Standard Deviation Weeks	15.4	29.0	12.0	24.4	28.4	27.5	0.0	45.5	33.5	27.1	19.8	0.0	32.5
Inquiries	Decisions	2	3	4	8	5	2	5	3	4	4	4	5	49
Inquiries	Median Average Weeks	44.8	80.9	43.9	133.2	35.6	112.9	126.7	91.1	48.1	73.8	111.6	92.7	71.7
Inquiries	Mean Average Weeks	44.8	94.1	39.1	104.7	50.4	112.9	106.9	80.0	60.0	85.0	106.1	102.3	84.4
Inquiries	Standard Deviation Weeks	1.6	47.2	13.6	65.7	22.5	51.2	66.6	27.6	31.1	41.7	26.3	56.8	52.5
All Cases	Decisions	96	52	52	88	92	66	55	66	57	59	41	37	761
All Cases	Median Average Weeks	12.7	28.4	29.8	24.7	30.9	29.4	34.7	35.3	27.0	36.9	41.7	25.7	29.4
All Cases	Mean Average Weeks	27.4	42.0	41.1	44.6	41.6	43.2	47.5	49.0	44.7	46.3	49.7	41.7	42.3
All Cases	Standard Deviation Weeks	30.0	35.0	27.0	41.5	30.4	37.5	40.0	35.0	34.3	32.8	30.6	39.1	35.1

12. Annex B - Detailed infotmation on timeliness (March 2023)

Casework Type	Procedure Type	Median (weeks)	Mean (weeks)	Decisions
s78 planning appeals	Written Representations	31.7	36.3	747
s78 planning appeals	Hearings	39.1	46.7	56
s78 planning appeals	Inquiries	31.1	42.0	21
Householder appeals	Written Representations	19.2	22.0	498
Enforcement appeals	Written Representations	58.1	60.7	176
Enforcement appeals	Hearings	69.3	84.1	21
Enforcement appeals	Inquiries	224.3	194.1	41

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:

Measure	s78 Written Representations [Note 1]	s78 Hearings	s78 Inquiries	Householder appeals
Weeks between valid date & start date
Median (average)	14.9	3.2	2.9	4.4
Mean (average)	14.2	4.3	15.6	7.5
Cases that started in March 2023	855	70	41	355
Weeks between start date & event date
Median (average)	12.0	16.4	16.4	6.0
Mean (average)	18.0	30.5	17.1	10.0
Cases where an event occurred during March 2023	546	36	16	509
Weeks between event date & decision date
Median (average)	4.9	4.9	8.9	3.4
Mean (average)	6.1	6.6	10.2	3.8
Cases that have been decided in March 2023	670	48	18	493

Note: Only cases with both dates recorded appear in this table, meaning that numbers for cases decided and events recorded may be lower than those presented elsewhere.

Explanation of date terminology

Date	Explantion
Valid date	When a case is deemed to have been validly received.  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.

Find out more about the process here - https://www.gov.uk/appeal-planning-decision/after-you-appeal

13. Annex C - 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	Events held: November 2022 and January 2023
Table 6	Valid to decision mean weeks: specialist casework January 2023
Annex A	Median average weeks: specialist casework written representations January 2023;
Annex A	Mean average weeks: specialist casework  written representations January 2023.
Annex A	Median average weeks: specialist casework hearings January 2023.
Annex A	Mean average weeks: specialist casework hearings January 2023.

14. Annex D: Quarterly Statistics

Table A: s78 planning appeals received and decided, by quarter since 2018/19

Date	Received	Decided
Apr - Jun 2018	3104	2428
Jul - Sep 2018	3192	2431
Oct - Dec 2018	3074	2739
Jan - Mar 2019	2867	2665
Apr - Jun 2019	3203	3540
Jul - Sep 2019	2849	3705
Oct - Dec 2019	2771	3350
Jan - Mar 2020	2894	2759
Apr - Jun 2020	2610	1514
Jul - Sep 2020	2613	2252
Oct - Dec 2020	2781	2879
Jan - Mar 2021	2833	2467
Apr - Jun 2021	2581	2320
Jul - Sep 2021	2692	2124
Oct - Dec 2021	2728	2212
Jan - Mar 2022	2672	2296
Apr - JunP 2022	2811	2026
Jul - SepP 2022	2584	2063
Oct - DecP 2022	2655	2611
Jan - MarP 2023	2623	2491

ANNEX D, Table b: s78 planning appeals, percentage allowed by procedure type, 2018/19 to 2022/23

Date	Written Representations	Hearings	Inquiries	All
Apr - Jun 2018	30.3%	48.1%	50.9%	31.7%
Jul - Sep 2018	30.4%	48.5%	45.1%	31.6%
Oct - Dec 2018	26.0%	33.6%	51.1%	26.8%
Jan - Mar 2019	28.0%	35.8%	37.5%	28.6%
Apr - Jun 2019	26.1%	50.8%	51.7%	27.4%
Jul - Sep 2019	23.0%	36.7%	42.1%	23.9%
Oct - Dec 2019	21.9%	42.1%	42.9%	23.2%
Jan - Mar 2020	21.6%	47.0%	48.5%	23.9%
Apr - Jun 2020	20.9%	36.5%	25.0%	21.5%
Jul - Sep 2020	24.4%	41.5%	54.5%	24.9%
Oct - Dec 2020	25.4%	37.3%	57.9%	26.2%
Jan - Mar 2021	25.3%	35.5%	53.3%	26.1%
Apr - Jun 2021	29.7%	33.9%	54.9%	30.6%
Jul - Sep 2021	27.1%	42.6%	58.0%	28.5%
Oct - Dec 2021	26.7%	41.0%	61.5%	27.9%
Jan - Mar 2022	27.9%	32.0%	54.4%	28.9%
Apr - JunP 2022	27.4%	33.9%	58.6%	28.6%
Jul - SepP 2022	25.5%	53.9%	64.6%	28.0%
Oct - DecP 2022	25.7%	51.1%	61.3%	28.5%
Jan - MarP 2023	28.0%	43.7%	60.9%	29.8%

ANNEX D, Table c: s78 planning appeals, percentage allowed by procedure type, 2018/19 to 2022/23

Year	Quarter	Written Representations	Hearings	Inquiries	All
2018/19	Apr - Jun	679	62	29	770
	Jul - Sep	683	63	23	769
	Oct - Dec	666	44	24	734
	Jan - Mar	702	38	21	761
2019/20	Apr - Jun	877	62	31	970
	Jul - Sep	805	55	24	884
	Oct - Dec	684	67	27	778
	Jan - Mar	541	87	32	660
2020/21	Apr - Jun	304	19	2	325
	Jul - Sep	537	17	6	560
	Oct - Dec	695	38	22	755
	Jan - Mar	588	39	16	643
2021/22	Apr - Jun	632	40	39	711
	Jul - Sep	536	40	29	605
	Oct - Dec	553	41	24	618
	Jan - Mar	595	31	37	663
2022/23	Apr - Jun	509	37	34	580
	Jul - Sep	484	62	31	577
	Oct - Dec	604	91	49	744
	Jan - Mar	638	66	39	743

15. Background notes

15.1 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.

15.2 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.

15.3 Technical Notes

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

	Definition
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.

16. 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.

17. Contact Us

The Planning Inspectorate welcome feedback on our statistical products. If you have any comments or questions about this publication or about our statistics in general, you can contact us as follows:

Media enquiries 0303 444 5004 email press.office@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

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email statistics@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

If you require information which is not available within this or other available publications, you may wish to submit a Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to the Planning Inspectorate.