Official Statistics

Planning Inspectorate statistical release 20 January 2022

Updated 24 January 2022

Applies to England

This is the first time the Planning Inspectorate has produced an accessible HTML version of our statistics, this is a work in progress and minor changes may be required.

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 January 2021 and December 2021
• 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

Performance

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

The median time to decide a case in December 2021 was 25.4 weeks, the same time as November 2021.

The median timeliness was highest at 26 weeks in October 2021, and lowest in March 2021 at 19 weeks. As with the mean, the median time to decision for each of the last five months is higher than any of the previous seven months.

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

Procedure type	Last 12 months	December 2021
Written Representations	22 weeks	25 weeks
Hearings	51 weeks	54 weeks
Inquiries	62 weeks	41 weeks

The median time for planning cases was, apart from February and March 2021, above 20 weeks for the last 12 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. 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 21 there has been a change in this trend, with specialist cases being quicker than enforcement.

The median time for planning appeals decided by inquiry under the Rosewell Process over the 12 months to December 2021 is 31 weeks. This is quicker than other types of casework decided by inquiry.

Decisions

The Planning Inspectorate has made 16,928 appeal decisions in the last 12 months, an average of 1,430 per month. The number of decisions in December 2021 was above average, 1,484 decisions were issued.

Written representations decisions had recovered to pre-pandemic levels by December 2020 (pre-pandemic being between approximately 1,600 and 2,000 decisions per month). There were 1,398 such decisions in December 2021.

There were 639 decisions made on hearings during the last 12 months, and during December 54 decisions were issued. Pre-pandemic levels for hearing decisions were between 50 and 100 decisions per month.

There were 444 decisions made on inquiries during the last 12 months, with 32 in December. Decisions for inquiries since January 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 December 2021, the Planning Inspectorate had over thirteen thousand open cases (13,165). 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 December 2021 with a full-time equivalent of 323.

Decisions, Events and Open Cases

The number of decisions issued in December 2021 was 1,484; this is lower than the number in November 21 but still higher than the average number of decisions issued over the past 12 months (1,411)

The number of events held in December 2021 was 1,047, this was, in part, due to annual leave for the Christmas and New Year break.

The median time to decide a case was the same as November 2021 (25.4 weeks)

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

Source: Horizon, Picaso, Inspector Scheduling System

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

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

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

Month	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Events Held	1,358	1,366	1,395	1,352	1,555	1,664	1,316	1,243	1,535	1,283	1,716	1,047	16,830
Decisions	1,410	1,446	1,612	1,083	1,508	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,236	1,561	1,484	16,928
Median	22.0	20.9	18.9	21.9	22.1	21.9	21.3	23.9	24.3	26.4	25.4	25.4	22.7

Source: Horizon, Picaso, Inspector Scheduling System.

The number of open cases stands at its highest point in the last 12 months, at 13,165 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 1,743 per month, over the last 12 months. The number closed averages just above 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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

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

Month	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul- 21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Received	1,632	1,760	1,964	1,718	1,679	1,794	1,761	1,772	1,804	1,755	1,877	1,680	21,196
Closed	1,571	1,623	1,824	1,238	1,666	1,735	1,489	1,365	1,734	1,430	1,807	1,701	19,370
Open(All)	11,001	11,293	11,725	11,733	11,823	11,987	12,525	12,592	12,873	12,887	13,029	13,165

Source: Horizon and Picaso

Number of Decisions

The Planning Inspectorate has made 16,928 appeal decisions in the last 12 months, an average of over 1,400 per month. 1,484 cases were decided in December 2021. 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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

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

Month	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Decisions	1,410	1,446	1,612	1,083	1,508	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,236	1,561	1,484	16,928

Source: Horizon and Picaso.

Figure 3 – Appeal Decisions; Jan-21 to Dec-21

Source: Horizon and Picaso

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 (15,845) were made on written representations. This is ninety four 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). Decisions in July 2021 (1,200), August 2021 (1,105) and October 2021 (1,187) were low, with only April 2021 (996) having fewer written representation decisions issued. There were 1,398 such decisions in December 2021.

There were 639 decisions made on hearings during the last 12 months and during December 54 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 444 decisions made on inquiries during the last 12 months and during December 2021 32 decisions were issued which is lower than the average of 37 decisions over the past year. Decisions for inquiries since January 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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

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

Month	Jan- 21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr- 21	May-21	Jun- 21	Jul- 21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct- 21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Written Representations	1,326	1,383	1,526	996	1,392	1,394	1,200	1,105	1,474	1,187	1,464	1,398	15,845
Hearings	58	44	53	52	64	80	65	51	40	31	47	54	639
Inquiries	26	19	33	35	52	56	37	56	30	18	50	32	444
Total	1,410	1,446	1,612	1,083	1,508	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,236	1,561	1,484	16,928
Month	Jan- 21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul- 21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Planning	1,185	1,242	1,413	938	1,287	1,269	1,077	970	1,365	1,033	1,337	1,263	14,379
Enforcement	164	112	149	100	161	200	179	187	148	153	194	160	1907
Specialist	61	92	50	45	60	61	46	55	31	50	30	61	642
Total	1,410	1,446	1,612	1,083	1,508	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,236	1,561	1,484	16,928

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 (14,379). This is about eighty-five per cent of all appeal decisions made. There were 1,907 enforcement decisions and 642 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. 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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

Appeal Decisions by Procedure

Appeal Decisions by Casework Category

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 five months being higher than any of the previous seven 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 timeliness was highest at 26 weeks in October 2021, and lowest in March 2021 at 19 weeks. As with the mean, the median time to decision for each of the last five months is higher than any of the previous seven 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, median, 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; Jan-21 to Dec-2

Month	Jan- 21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr- 21	May-21	Jun- 21	Jul- 21	Aug-21	Sep- 21	Oct- 21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Valid to Decision (mean weeks)	27.7	26.7	23.9	27.3	26.2	28.3	27.2	31.0	28.6	31.0	30.6	29.4	28.1
Valid to Decision (median weeks)	22.0	20.9	18.9	21.9	22.1	21.9	21.3	23.9	24.3	26.4	25.4	25.4	22.7
Standard Deviation (weeks)	18.1	16.9	16.0	18.7	16.7	19.7	18.5	23.3	16.7	19.0	21.0	17.8	18.6

Source: Horizon and Picaso

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

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 – with inquiries taking more than twice as long as written representations. 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 December 2021 is 22 weeks; the last three months have longer median time to decision than the previous nine months. The median time for inquiries over the 12 months to December 2021 is over a year - 62 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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

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	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Written Representations	25.8	25.3	22.1	24.1	24.1	25.0	24.5	27.2	27.3	29.6	27.9	27.8	25.9
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Hearings	59.8	47.5	56.7	63.8	42.9	57.0	50.0	49.8	57.1	57.8	60.8	61.2	55.1
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	Inquiries	53.9	76.3	57.6	64.4	61.7	70.9	77.5	87.7	56.5	77.6	80.3	47.3	68.9
Valid to decision (mean weeks)	All Cases	27.7	26.7	23.9	27.3	26.2	28.3	27.2	31.0	28.6	31.0	30.6	29.4	28.1
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Written Representations	21.3	20.4	18.4	20.9	21.1	20.7	20.4	23.0	23.6	25.9	24.6	24.9	21.9
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Hearings	51.5	49.0	52.4	62.0	39.6	61.3	43.6	43.9	50.4	54.3	47.9	54.4	50.6
Valid to decision (median weeks)	Inquiries	47.3	68.1	41.3	62.4	66.0	64.6	79.0	95.0	35.6	50.4	80.9	40.6	62.4
Valid to decision (median weeks)	All Cases	22.0	20.9	18.9	21.9	22.1	21.9	21.3	23.9	24.3	26.4	25.4	25.4	22.7
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Written Representations	15.2	14.8	12.6	13.6	14.0	13.9	13.3	16.0	14.0	16.4	15.6	15.0	14.7
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Hearings	29.1	20.9	26.3	26.9	18.4	21.7	19.8	27.5	27.5	23.0	38.6	31.7	26.9
Standard Deviation (weeks)	Inquiries	30.5	36.9	31.3	27.8	26.1	42.8	43.8	47.1	40.8	50.9	41.8	30.0	40.3
Standard Deviation (weeks)	All Cases	18.1	16.9	16.0	18.7	16.7	19.7	18.5	23.3	16.7	19.0	21.0	17.8	18.6
Decisions	Written Representations	1,326	1,383	1,526	996	1,392	1,394	1,200	1,105	1,474	1,187	1,464	1,398	15,845
Decisions	Hearings	58	44	53	52	64	80	65	51	40	31	47	54	639
Decisions	Inquiries	26	19	33	35	52	56	37	56	30	18	50	32	444
Decisions	Total	1,410	1,446	1,612	1,083	1,508	1,530	1,302	1,212	1,544	1,236	1,561	1,484	16,928

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 five months higher (five at or above 15) than the previous seven months (all but one at 14 or lower). Hearings have experienced higher month to month changes. For inquiries the variation reduced last month to 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, apart from February and March 2021, above 20 weeks for the last 12 months. The last four months have been above 23 weeks. 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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

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

Appeal Type	Measure	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Planning Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	24.6	23.2	21.9	24.7	24.5	25.2	24.4	26.2	26.9	28.3	27.2	26.9	25.3
Planning Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	20.7	19.6	18.3	20.9	21.6	20.7	20.4	23.0	23.6	25.3	24.7	24.6	21.9
Planning Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	12.3	11.6	12.4	14.6	13.1	15.2	13.7	14.7	13.5	13.6	14.1	13.7	13.7
Enforcement Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	43.8	42.7	41.7	47.6	40.6	45.7	42.7	54.5	40.7	43.7	53.6	45.0	45.5
Enforcement Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	37.8	34.9	31.0	35.2	28.3	38.9	32.3	41.6	33.2	34.0	40.4	39.1	35.6
Enforcement Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	29.0	26.7	26.3	29.4	28.9	29.7	29.4	38.3	26.3	30.2	37.6	26.4	30.8
Specialist Cases	Valid to decision (mean wks)	46.1	53.7	28.7	35.6	24.7	36.6	33.7	34.4	47.8	48.9	32.0	40.8	39.4
Specialist Cases	Valid to decision (median wks)	52.9	53.6	14.9	21.9	15.9	28.0	22.4	17.7	30.3	32.1	18.8	27.1	26.9
Specialist Cases	Standard deviation of decision (weeks)	33.7	24.7	28.2	30.1	21.6	27.7	27.4	29.6	35.9	36.6	31.9	32.5	31.0

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 there has been a change in this trend, with Specialist cases being 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: Jan-21 to Dec-21

Source: Horizon and Picaso

There are considerably fewer specialist cases which means results are more liable to be distorted by extreme values. Looking at the annual totals, the median and mean time to decision for specialist decisions had been broadly the same as for enforcement decisions, and longer than the median for planning decisions. Since February 2021 there has been a change in this trend, with specialist cases being 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.

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 December 21 is 31 weeks, with the mean being higher at 38 weeks. The median for the past two months have fallen below 30 weeks, in October the median was 43 weeks; however in each of the last six months there have been fewer than 20 decisions which means these measures are less reliable.

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

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	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Decisions	13	8	15	17	16	30	11	13	19	8	19	14	183
Mean (weeks)	36.5	40.7	36.7	53.5	34.3	40.7	32.0	39.6	30.5	40.0	36.8	29.2	37.7
Median (weeks)	40.3	40.7	33.7	51.9	30.1	33.9	29.1	25.1	26.9	43.2	28.6	27.4	31.4
St. Dev. (weeks)	12.2	7.9	12.0	31.1	9.9	22.1	12.0	44.5	10.7	13.5	18.7	8.5	21.3

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; Jan-21 to Dec-21

Month	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Decisions	1	1	1	1	4	7	2	3	1	0	0	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, Median Time to Decision, Rosewell Inquiry Process; Jan-21 to Dec-21

Source: Horizon

Open Cases

At the end of December 2021, the Planning Inspectorate had over thirteen thousand cases open (13,165). This is higher than the previous month; the number of open cases has been rising through the year.

The open cases comprised almost 11,200 cases being handled through written representations; just over 1,170 through hearings; and just under 700 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 scheduled but not yet started, 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 December 2021

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	1,252	8,669	1,254	11,175
Hearings	92	929	150	1,171
Inquiries	10	524	135	669
Total	1,354	10,264	1,547	13,165

Source: Horizon

Note there are 150 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 January 2021 to December 2021 . 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 361 Planning Inspectors employed by the Inspectorate in December 2021 – with a full-time equivalent of 323.

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

Month	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21
Headcount	343	345	352	355	353	349	347	346	345	351	360	361
FTE	305.4	308.1	314.4	317.0	314.4	310.8	308.4	307.8	306.6	314.0	323.2	322.8

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).

Quarterly Volume Statistics

The Inspectorate has also published a series of tables of quarterly data. The quarterly volume statistics differ from the monthly statistical release. Some of the data published is on casework types that The Planning Inspectorate deals with, that are larger in scale but smaller in volume. 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. This data has been published on a quarterly basis for many years as management information.

Section 78 Planning appeals

Appeals received compared decisions

In the last 12 rolling months, January 2021 to December 2021, there have been 10,858 Section 78 planning appeals (s78) received, compared to 10,962 for the period January 2020 to December 2020.

In the last five complete financial years (April 2016 to March 2021) the highest level of quarterly receipts (3,684) occurred in October to December 2017 and the highest number of decisions (3,705) was in July to September 2019.

The number of appeals received in the first three quarters of 2021/22 (8,024) was very similar (48 fewer, or 0.6% lower) to the same period in 2020/21. Appeal receipts since the pandemic started average around 2,700 per quarter (April 20 to December 21).

Figure 8: Number of s78 Planning appeals receipts and decision, 2015/16 to 2021/22, 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 being issued in the latest quarter of 2021/22, October to December, was 4% more than the July to September quarter. Compared to first three quarters of 2020/21 the number of decisions issued is only 28 higher in 2021/22.

Appeals Allowed

The percentage of Section 78 planning appeals that were allowed in the latest quarter was 28%. This is the same as the previous quarter and the joint second highest percentage allowed since the start of 2019/20.

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 11 below for further details.

Figure 9: S78 planning appeals, percentage allowed, 2015/16 to 2021/22, 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, 2015/16 to 2021/22, 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, 2015/16 to 2021/22, 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

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 - 2022

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 decision, with standard deviation, for planning, enforcement and specialist

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.

Procedure	Measure	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	1,134	1,200	1,359	886	1,216	1,193	1,021	917	1,323	1,000	1,281	1,204	13,734
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	23.7	22.5	21	22.9	23.4	23.5	23.3	25.2	26.2	27.5	26.3	25.8	24.3
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	20.4	19.4	18	20.1	21	20	19.7	22.4	23.1	25	24.1	24.3	21.3
Written Representations	Standard Deviation	10.8	10.5	10.9	11.2	11.8	11.9	11.3	12	12.3	12.7	12.1	11.5	11.7
Hearings	Decisions	37	33	38	34	51	39	43	37	22	25	37	42	438
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	46.2	41.2	48	56.1	40.7	49.2	42.7	41.3	54.7	54.7	54.3	56.8	48.3
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	46.6	46.4	44.8	56.9	37.4	45.4	42	37.4	50.4	54.3	45.9	50	44.6
Hearings	Standard Deviation	23	16.7	24.6	23.6	18.9	20.7	16.5	18.6	24	20.6	34.1	29.3	23.8
Inquires	Decisions	14	9	16	18	20	37	13	16	20	8	19	17	207
Inquires	Mean Average Weeks	40.4	50.6	35.8	54.9	44.8	53.5	53.5	50.3	36.6	40	36.8	29.1	44.5
Inquires	Median Average Weeks	40.7	42.9	33.6	52.4	32.9	36.9	30.9	30	27.9	43.2	28.6	23.9	33.6
Inquires	Standard Deviation	18.4	29	12.1	30.7	23.5	37.3	51.6	53.9	28.8	13.5	18.7	10.5	32.4
All Planning Cases	Decisions	1,185	1,242	1,413	938	1,287	1,269	1,077	970	1,365	1,033	1,337	1,263	14,379
All Planning Cases	Mean Average Weeks	24.6	23.2	21.9	24.7	24.5	25.2	24.4	26.2	26.9	28.3	27.2	26.9	25.3
All Planning Cases	Median Average Weeks	20.7	19.6	18.3	20.9	21.6	20.7	20.4	23	23.6	25.3	24.7	24.6	21.9
All Planning Cases	Standard Deviation	12.3	11.6	12.4	14.6	13.1	15.2	13.7	14.7	13.5	13.6	14.1	13.7	13.7

• 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 four 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

Procedure	Measure	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	138	95	120	68	118	142	137	139	122	140	157	137	1,513
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	36.9	35.4	32.3	34.4	31.5	33.1	32.2	40	33.8	38.8	42.3	41.5	36.3
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	31.1	28.1	27.4	29.6	24.9	29.1	26	35.4	28.1	32.7	32.1	37.4	29.7
Written Representations	Standard Deviation	23.2	17.8	17	20.9	25.6	17.8	19.6	25.8	16.8	22.4	28.3	23.9	22.5
Hearings	Decisions	18	10	13	16	12	39	22	11	18	6	9	10	184
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	82.7	66.3	78.5	77.9	50.9	62.6	64.1	70.7	60	70.7	82.7	71.6	68.6
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	78.8	68.8	84.4	71.3	45.2	61.6	67.3	56	50.8	59.8	55.3	60.5	64.1
Hearings	Standard Deviation	23.2	22.2	15.6	28	13.6	18.5	17.9	34.2	31.1	27.6	46.6	33.7	27
Inquires	Decisions	8	7	16	16	31	19	20	37	8	7	28	13	210
Inquires	Mean Average Weeks	75.4	108.7	81.8	73.8	71.3	104.9	90.6	104.1	101.6	117.6	107.6	60.9	91.2
Inquires	Median Average Weeks	86.1	125.3	86.7	62.4	66	108	92.9	122.3	94.5	147.4	118.3	48	89.1
Inquires	Standard Deviation	38.1	23.2	26.8	20.3	21.4	30.7	35	34.9	32	52.2	26.8	27.1	34.5
All Enforcement Cases	Decisions	164	112	149	100	161	200	179	187	148	153	194	160	1,907
All Enforcement Cases	Mean Average Weeks	43.8	42.7	41.7	47.6	40.6	45.7	42.7	54.5	40.7	43.7	53.6	45	45.5
All Enforcement Cases	Median Average Weeks	37.8	34.9	31	35.2	28.3	38.9	32.3	41.6	33.2	34	40.4	39.1	35.6
All Enforcement Cases	Standard Deviation	29	26.7	26.3	29.4	28.9	29.7	29.4	38.3	26.3	30.2	37.6	26.4	30.8

• The mean and median measures for enforcement written representation decisions show considerable variation month to month but no clear trend. The mean for December 2021 was 0.8 week lower than November 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

Procedure	Measure	Jan-21	Feb-21	Mar-21	Apr-21	May-21	Jun-21	Jul-21	Aug-21	Sep-21	Oct-21	Nov-21	Dec-21	Total
Written Representations	Decisions	54	88	47	42	58	59	42	49	29	47	26	57	598
Written Representations	Mean Average Weeks	42.7	52.8	26.7	32.2	22.8	34.5	28.3	28.6	45.9	46.6	21.3	36.1	36.2
Written Representations	Median Average Weeks	43.6	53.1	14.9	21.7	15.4	26.9	20.4	17.3	25.1	30.4	17.2	24.9	23.9
Written Representations	Standard Deviation	33.3	24.5	26.7	28.2	18.9	25.4	21.9	24.7	36.3	35.5	15	27.5	28.8
Hearings	Decisions	3	1	2	2	1	2	0	3	0	0	1	2	17
Hearings	Mean Average Weeks	89.8	65	80	82.1	60	100.8	-	78.3	-	-	101.9	101.9	85.9
Hearings	Median Average Weeks	102.1	65	80	82.1	60	100.8	-	95	-	-	101.9	101.9	95
Hearings	Standard Deviation	18.1	0	16.3	12.9	0	7.1	-	31.5	-	-	0	26.2	22.9
Inquires	Decisions	4	3	1	1	1	0	4	3	2	3	3	2	27
Inquires	Mean Average Weeks	58.4	77.6	18	85.1	100	-	90.2	84.6	75.2	84.7	101.2	113.9	82.2
Inquires	Median Average Weeks	64	81.9	18	85.1	100	-	94.3	88.4	75.2	105.3	84.9	113.9	84.9
Inquires	Standard Deviation	19.5	19.9	0	0	0	-	9.6	11.5	8.2	33.7	28.9	15.6	27.4
All Specialist Cases	Decisions	61	92	50	45	60	61	46	55	31	50	30	61	642
All Specialist Cases	Mean Average Weeks	46.1	53.7	28.7	35.6	24.7	36.6	33.7	34.4	47.8	48.9	32	40.8	39.4
All Specialist Cases	Median Average Weeks	52.9	53.6	14.9	21.9	15.9	28	22.4	17.7	30.3	32.1	18.8	27.1	26.9
All Specialist Cases	Standard Deviation	33.7	24.7	28.2	30.1	21.6	27.7	27.4	29.6	35.9	36.6	31.9	32.5	31

• 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 (December)

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

Note: when there are fewer than 20 decisions the measures mean, median and standard deviation are less meaningful. This applies to the 17 Section 78 planning appeals managed through inquiries; to the 8 enforcement appeals managed through hearings; and the 10 enforcement appeals managed through inquiries.

Casework Type	Procedure Type	Mean (weeks)	Median (weeks)	Decisions
s78 planning appeals	Written Representations	30.6	29.1	652
s78 planning appeals	Hearings	56.8	50	42
s78 planning appeals	Inquiries	29.1	23.9	17
Householder appeals	Written Representations	19.1	18.3	491
Enforcement appeals	Written Representations	39.1	36.6	97
Enforcement appeals	Hearings	73.4	60.5	8
Enforcement appeals	Inquiries	61.4	53.6	10

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 17 inquiries with start dates in December 2021, 13 inquiries with events in December 2021 and 17 inquiries with decisions in December 2021.

Stage	s78 Planning Appeals Written Representations	s78 Planning Appeals Hearings	Inquiries Planning Appeals	Householder appeals
Mean (average) weeks between valid and start date	13.3	20.8	6.5	5.2
Median (average) weeks between valid and start date	13.4	19.4	2.1	3.9
Cases that started in December 21	769	50	16	554
Mean (average) weeks between start and event date	13.4	27.9	19.3	8.2
Median (average) weeks between start and event date	10.1	15.9	15.9	7
Cases where an event occurred during December 21	406	21	13	415
Mean (average) weeks between event and decision date	5.1	8.4	7.7	3.4
Median (average) weeks between event and decision date	3.3	4.9	5.4	2.3
Cases that have been decided in December 21	650	41	17	488

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 this 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 - Quarterly Data Tables

Table A S78 planning appeals received and decided

Year	Quarter	Received	Decided
2016/17	Apr - Jun	2,929	2,958
2016/17	Jul - Sep	2,895	3,056
2016/17	Oct - Dec	2,997	2,683
2016/17	Jan - Mar	2,972	2,796
2017/18	Apr - Jun	3,108	2,600
2017/18	Jul - Sep	3,131	2,680
2017/18	Oct - Dec	3,684	2,727
2017/18	Jan - Mar	3,436	2,731
2018/19	Apr - Jun	3,104	2,428
2018/19	Jul - Sep	3,192	2,431
2018/19	Oct - Dec	3,074	2,740
2018/19	Jan - Mar	2,867	2,665
2019/20	Apr - Jun	3,203	3,540
2019/20	Jul - Sep	2,849	3,705
2019/20	Oct - Dec	2,772	3,350
2019/20	Jan - Mar	2,900	2,759
2020/21	Apr – Jun	2,632	1,514
2020/21	Jul – Sep	2,647	2,253
2020/21	Oct – Dec	2,783	2,879
2020/21	Jan - Mar	2,834	2,469
2021/22	Apr – Jun	2,582	2,326
2021/22	Jul - Sep	2,692	2,127
2021/22	Oct - Dec	2,750	2,221

Table B S78 planning appeals, percentage allowed by procedure type

Year	Quarter	Written Representations	Hearings	Inquiries	All
2016/17	Apr - Jun	31%	45%	56%	32%
2016/17	Jul - Sep	32%	35%	60%	32%
2016/17	Oct - Dec	33%	38%	54%	34%
2016/17	Jan - Mar	31%	44%	54%	33%
2017/18	Apr - Jun	29%	41%	51%	30%
2017/18	Jul - Sep	30%	41%	52%	31%
2017/18	Oct - Dec	31%	46%	43%	32%
2017/18	Jan - Mar	32%	48%	36%	33%
2018/19	Apr - Jun	30%	48%	51%	32%
2018/19	Jul - Sep	30%	48%	45%	32%
2018/19	Oct - Dec	26%	33%	51%	27%
2018/19	Jan - Mar	28%	36%	38%	29%
2019/20	Apr - Jun	26%	51%	52%	27%
2019/20	Jul - Sep	23%	37%	42%	24%
2019/20	Oct - Dec	22%	42%	43%	23%
2019/20	Jan - Mar	21%	45%	48%	23%
2020/21	Apr - Jun	21%	37%	25%	21%
2020/21	Jul - Sep	24%	41%	55%	25%
2020/21	Oct - Dec	25%	37%	58%	26%
2020/21	Jan - Mar	25%	36%	53%	26%
2021/22	Apr - Jun	30%	34%	55%	31%
2021/22	Jul - Sep	27%	42%	58%	28%
2021/22	Oct - Dec	27%	41%	59%	28%

Table C s78 planning appeals, percentage allowed by procedure type

Year	Quarter	Written Representations	Hearings	Inquiries	All
2016/17	Apr - Jun	822	88	45	955
2016/17	Jul - Sep	885	58	50	993
2016/17	Oct - Dec	802	63	35	900
2016/17	Jan - Mar	803	71	35	909
2017/18	Apr - Jun	701	56	35	792
2017/18	Jul - Sep	732	61	41	834
2017/18	Oct - Dec	769	72	23	864
2017/18	Jan - Mar	811	65	33	909
2018/19	Apr - Jun	679	62	29	770
2018/19	Jul - Sep	683	63	23	769
2018/19	Oct - Dec	666	44	24	734
2018/19	Jan - Mar	702	38	21	761
2019/20	Apr - Jun	877	62	31	970
2019/20	Jul - Sep	805	55	24	884
2019/20	Oct - Dec	683	67	27	777
2019/20	Jan - Mar	532	84	32	648
2020/21	Apr - Jun	304	19	2	325
2020/21	Jul - Sep	537	17	6	560
2020/21	Oct - Dec	695	38	22	755
2020/21	Jan - Mar	588	40	16	644
2021/22	Apr - Jun	635	40	39	714
2021/22	Jul - Sep	537	40	29	606
2021/22	Oct - Dec	558	41	23	622

Annex F - 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: October 21 and November 21.
Table 1	Decisions: November 2021.
Table 2	Received: September 21 and October 21.
Table 2	Closed Cases: November 2021.
Table 2	Open Cases: November 2021.
Table 3	November 2021.
Table 4, by procedure.	Written Representations November 2021.
Table 4, by appeal type	Planning November 2021.
Table 5	No revisions.
Table 6	Inquiries, valid to decision mean weeks August 2021.
Table 6	Inquiries, valid to decision median weeks August 2021.
Table 7	Enforcement cases, valid to decision median weeks November 21.
Table 7	Specialist cases, valid to decision mean weeks April 2021, July 2021, August 2021, September 2021 and November 2021.
Table 7	Specialist cases, valid to decision median weeks September 2021 and November 2021.
Table 7	Specialist cases, standard deviation November 2021.
Table 8	Standard deviation August 2021.
Table 9	No revisions.
Table 10	Not applicable.
Table 11	No revisions.
Annex B Planning	Written representation decisions May 2021, October 2021 and November 2021.
Annex B Planning	Hearing decisions July 2021.
Annex B Planning	Inquiry decisions August 2021.
Annex B Planning	Inquiries mean average weeks August 2021.
Annex B Planning	Inquiries standard deviation August 2021.
Annex B Enforcement	Written representation decisions March 2021, October 2021 and November 2021.
Annex B Enforcement	Written representation, mean average weeks November 2021.
Annex B Specialist	Written Representation decisions April 2021, July 2021, August 2021, September 2021 and November 2021.
Annex B Specialist	Written Representations, mean average weeks April 2021, July 2021, August 2021, September 2021 and November 2021.
Annex B Specialist	Written Representations, median average weeks July 2021 and September 2021.
Annex C	Not applicable.

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.

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

Public enquiries email statistics@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

Please note we are currently reviewing our statistics with a view to making them as clear and helpful as possible for users. We would be delighted if you could contact us via the address below with any views on this approach; particularly on what content would be most useful and why.

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. For more information, see: https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-information-request/the-freedom-of-information-act