Review claims planning appeals could be decided up to five months faster
The average time to decide a planning appeal inquiry could be cut from 47 to 26 weeks, an independent review commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has claimed.
The review by economist Bridget Rosewell concluded that outdated administrative processes and poor IT infrastructure were unnecessarily holding up cases.
The report, which can be found here, also suggested that a lack of suitably qualified inspectors was hampering efforts to set up inquiry hearings on time.
The report made 22 recommendations in total. These range from committing the Planning Inspectorate to introducing a new online portal for the submission of inquiry appeals to setting out a strategy for recruiting additional inspectors so inquiries can be scheduled sooner.
The Planning Inspectorate is to prepare an implementation plan which will set out precisely how it will deliver these recommendations.
The Ministry said faster inquiries into contested development would give house builders and local communities more certainty on when decisions would be made, while also maintaining the ability of the appeals system to prevent inappropriate development.
Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said: “Planning appeal inquiries have held up development and kept communities waiting in limbo – 47 weeks on average is far too long to wait for a decision on something so important as a proposal for new development.
“That’s why I welcome Bridget’s diligent work over the last six months, which has produced a fantastic report and provided us with a clear direction of travel on how we can ensure the appeals inquiry process is fit for purpose.
“Reducing the time it takes to secure crucial decisions ensures the delivery of more homes, in the right places, and will help us reach our ambition of 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s.”
Rosewell said: “It’s critical that all parts of the planning system contribute towards the efficient delivery of the homes we need as well as the refusal of those which don’t meet our high standards.
“My review found, with commitment for all involved, that speeding up inquiries can be achieved through straightforward reforms, shaving months off the current time it takes for inspectors to make a decision.”
