Communities and Local Government

• Planning, building and the environment
• Planning applications: October to December 2002 (PA-Q4)

Planning, building and the environment

Planning applications: October to December 2002 (PA-Q4)

Tables and Figures

All of the tables and figures listed below can be accessed from the Maps, Charts and Figures link from the Planning applications: October to December 2002 (PA-Q4) index page.

Table 1: Planning applications and decisions by district planning authorities, by speed of decision. England, 1992/93 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 2: Planning decisions by district planning authorities by speed of decision, Government Office Region and type of authority, England, October to December 2002 (October to December 2001 in brackets).

Table 3: Planning decisions by district planning authorities by speed of decision, and type and size of development, England, October to December 2002 (October to December 2001 in brackets).

Table 4: Enforcement action by district planning authorities, England, 1992/93 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 5: Regulation 3 and 4 Consents granted by district planning authorities, England, 1993/94 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 6: Applications for determination by district planning authorities, England, 1994/95 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 7: Planning decisions, per cent granted and decided within 8 weeks.

Table 8: Planning decisions, by development type and speed of decision.

Table 9: 'County matters' planning applications and decisions, England, 1995/96 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 10: 'County matters' planning decisions, by type and size of development, England, October to December 2002.

Table 11: 'County matters' planning decisions by speed of decision, England, 1995/96 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 12: 'County matters' planning applications received and decided, by planning authority, October to December 2002.

Table 13: Enforcement action by county planning authorities, England 1995/96 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Maps 1 and 2:
Map1: Percentage change in applications received between October to December 2001 and October to December 2002, by Government Office Region
Map 2: Percentage change in applications decided between October to December 2001 and October to December 2002, by Government Office Region.

Chart 1: Planning decisions and percentage decided within 8 weeks, England, October to December 1992 to October to December 2002.

Charts 2: Percentage of 'major', 'minor' and 'other' planning decisions, by speed of decision by local planning authority, October to December 2002.

Annex A: Composition of Government Office regions

Table 1: Planning applications and decisions by district planning authorities, by speed of decision. England, 1992/93 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 2: Planning decisions by district planning authorities by speed of decision, Government Office Region and type of authority, England, October to December 2002 (October to December 2001 in brackets).

Table 3: Planning decisions by district planning authorities by speed of decision, and type and size of development, England, October to December 2002 (October to December 2001 in brackets).

Table 4: Enforcement action by district planning authorities, England, 1992/93 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 5: Regulation 3 and 4 Consents granted by district planning authorities, England, 1993/94 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 6: Applications for determination by district planning authorities, England, 1994/95 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 7: Planning decisions, per cent granted and decided within 8 weeks.

Table 8: Planning decisions, by development type and speed of decision.

Table 9: 'County matters' planning applications and decisions, England, 1995/96 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 10: 'County matters' planning decisions, by type and size of development, England, October to December 2002.

Table 11: 'County matters' planning decisions by speed of decision, England, 1995/96 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

Table 12: 'County matters' planning applications received and decided, by planning authority, October to December 2002.

Table 13: Enforcement action by county planning authorities, England 1995/96 to 2001/02 and October to December 2002.

District Planning Authorities

Planning applications

In the fourth quarter of 2002, district planning authorities in England received 149 thousand applications for planning permission and other related consents. This is the largest number received in the October to December quarter since 1988 and is 13 per cent higher than in the corresponding period last year (Table 1).

The number of applications received increased in all regions. The largest increases were in the North East (23 per cent), and Yorkshire and the Humber (18 per cent). The smallest increases were in the South East (9 per cent) and in London (10 per cent) (Map 1).

Planning decisions

District planning authorities made 146 thousand planning decisions in the fourth quarter of 2002, 10 per cent higher than a year earlier. This is the largest number decided in the October to December quarter since 1989.

All regions saw an increase in the number of decisions. The largest was in Yorkshire and the Humber (22 per cent) and the North East (19 per cent). The smallest increase was in the South East (6 per cent) (Table 2, Map 2).

Once again, the increase in the number of planning decisions is largely due to decisions on householder applications, increasing from 62,700 in October to December 2001 to 73,400 in October to December 2002. Householder decisions account for half of all decisions. The number of decisions relating to new dwellings has increased from 14,900 to 17,000 and accounts for 12 per cent of the total (Table 3).

Chart 1 shows the number of planning applications decided and the percentage decided within 8 weeks (both actual and seasonally adjusted), in each quarter from October 1992 to December 2002.

Applications granted

85 per cent of decisions were granted in the fourth quarter of 2002. This figure is stable with values of 85 to 88 per cent achieved in all other quarters in the last 7 years (Table 1). Approval rates across the regions ranged from 92 per cent in the North East to 78 per cent in London (Table 2).

Speed of decision

Because of seasonal variation, quarterly figures should be compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2002, 67 per cent of all planning decisions were made within 8 weeks, 2 per cent higher than at the same period as a year ago (Table 1). For 2002 as a whole, 66 per cent of decisions were made within 8 weeks.

In October to December 2002, decisions were made quickest in the South East and the North West (70 per cent within 8 weeks), followed by the West Midlands (68 per cent within 8 weeks). Decisions were slowest in London (62 per cent within 8 weeks) (Table 2). The best improvement in performance was in the South East, up 4 percentage points on last year. Authorities made 84 per cent of all decisions within 13 weeks in October to December 2002 compared with 82 per cent in the same quarter last year. For 2002 as a whole, 84 per cent were decided within 13 weeks.

Table 7 shows the total number of applications decided, the percentage granted and the percentage of decisions made within 8 weeks in the year and quarter ending December 2002 for each district planning authority. Table 8 shows the number of major, minor and other applications decided and speed of decision in the year and quarter ending December 2002. The results for speed of decision are illustrated graphically in Chart 2a (major applications), Chart 2b (minor applications) and Chart 2c (other applications); these contain information for each of the authorities responding to the latest quarterly survey, ranked according to the percentage of decisions made within 13 weeks (major applications) and within 8 weeks (minor and other applications).

In October to December 2002 district authorities, on average, determined 42 per cent of major applications within 13 weeks, 55 per cent of minor applications within 8 weeks, and 72 per cent of other applications within 8 weeks. For 2002 as a whole, equivalent figures were 43, 54 and 71 per cent.

In October to December 2002 there were 78 authorities (22 per cent of all responding authorities) making 60 per cent or more of their decisions on major applications within the statutory 13 week period; there were 92 authorities (26 per cent) making 65 per cent or more of their decisions on minor applications within the statutory 8 week period; and there were 111 authorities (31 per cent) making 80 per cent or more of their decisions on other applications within the statutory 8 week period. This represents a 2 percentage point improvement, from the previous quarter, on the number of authorities meeting the performance standard on minor applications and a 4 percentage point improvement on other applications; however, the number of authorities meeting the major standard fell by 3 percentage points.

Responding Authorities for October to December 2002

Of the 362 district planning authorities, 359 provided figures in time for this publication (that is, over 99 per cent of all authorities). The figures relating to Tables 1 to 3 include estimates for non-responding authorities.

Applications decided under delegated powers

Since April 1997, district planning authorities have provided information about the number of applications decided by planning officers under a scheme of delegation and without referral to committee or councillors.

The final column in Table 7 shows the percentage of such decisions. Of the 359 authorities that provided information about delegated decisions in the fourth quarter of 2002, only 3 authorities had delegated less than 10 per cent of decisions to planning officers. On average, authorities delegated 83 per cent of decisions to planning officers, 7 percentage points below the government target of 90 per cent.

Departure applications

From April 1997, district planning authorities have also provided information about the number of applications decided which were advertised as departures from the development plan in force, and the number of departure applications which were granted.

A total of 359 authorities (over 99 per cent) were able to provide this information for October to December 2002. Of the planning decisions taken by these authorities, 1,024 (less than one per cent) were advertised as departures from the development plan. New dwellings accounted for per cent of departure decisions. An average of 56 per cent of departure applications were granted, compared with 85 per cent of planning applications overall.

Enforcement action by district planning authorities

Table 4 shows statistics of formal enforcement action taken by responding authorities in each year since data collection began in 1992/93. In October to December 2002, district planning authorities reported issuing 989 Enforcement Notices and served 1,122 Planning Contravention Notices, 338 Breach of Condition Notices and 44 Stop Notices. The High Court or County Court granted 13 Enforcement Injunctions.

Regulation 3 and 4 consents

Table 5 shows the number of Regulation 3 and 4 Consents granted in each quarter since 1993/94. Under Regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992, SI 1992/1492, a local planning authority makes an application to itself for permission to develop land within its area, and determines that application. In the fourth quarter of 2002, 1,358 Regulation 3 consents were reported granted and 83 Regulation 4 consents were granted. Regulation 4 is concerned with planning permission for development of land in which the local planning authority has an interest but which it does not itself propose to carry out.

Applications for determination

In October to December 2002, district planning authorities reported receiving 1,710 applications for determination whether local authority approval is required for certain works (Table 6). They decided to intervene in 368 cases. This is 22 per cent of applications, 6 per cent more than in the same quarter of the previous year.

County Matters

'County matters' planning applications are predominantly concerned- with minerals extraction and waste disposal developments. They are decided by the county-level planning authorities - that is, county councils, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities, London boroughs, and national park authorities. However, because of the nature of county matters applications, the large majority are handled by the county councils.

County planning authorities receive fewer than two thousand 'county matters' applications each year. This compares with nearly 600 thousand planning applications received by district planning authorities. Quarterly figures for 'county matters' decisions are likely to be much more variable than those for districts because of the smaller numbers of such decisions.

Planning applications and decisions

In the fourth quarter of 2002, county planning authorities reported receiving 505 planning applications, 6 per cent lower than for the same quarter last year. County councils accounted for 85 per cent of total applications, unitary authorities for 5 per cent and metropolitan districts for 10 per cent (Table 9). Lancashire received the highest number this quarter (36), followed by Norfolk and Devon (24 each). (Table 12).

County planning authorities reported 451 planning decisions in the quarter, 15 per cent more than last year. Of these, 92 per cent were granted, two percentage points more than in the corresponding period in 2001. Waste developments accounted for 71 per cent of total decisions and minerals developments for 24 per cent (Table 10). Lancashire reported 31 decisions, the highest number in the quarter, followed by Cumbria and Norfolk (21 each), and Hampshire, (with 20 decisions) (Table 12).

Table 12 shows individual numbers of permissions granted by authorities under Regulations 3 and 4 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992. The highest numbers of Regulation 3 consents were granted by Kent (69), North Yorkshire (57), Suffolk (53) and Nottinghamshire (51). In order to better reflect the workload of authorities, information on the total number of decisions on applications for consent, agreement or approval of details or schemes required by conditions, as defined by Article 21 of the GDPO 1995 has been collected from April 2000 and is also published in this table. In October to December 2002, the highest number of decisions was reported by Leceistershire (58) and Derbyshire (39). The number of determinations under the review of mineral planning permissions (ROMPs) was also collected.

Speed of decision

In the fourth quarter of 2002, 20 per cent of all decisions on 'county matters' applications were made within 8 weeks, 3 percentage points higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2001. Authorities made 48 per cent of decisions within 13 weeks and 63 per cent within 17 weeks, both higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2001. (Table 11).

Enforcement action

In October to December 2002, county planning authorities issued 23 Enforcement Notices and served 7 Stop Notices, 31 Planning Contravention Notices and 11 Breach of Condition Notices. (Table 13).

Responding authorities for October to December 2002

Of the 157 county planning authorities, 156 (99 per cent) provided figures in time for this publication.

Notes to Editors

District Planning Authorities

1. The term 'district planning authorities' describes the group of authorities with responsibility for deciding planning applications at 'district level': metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts, new unitary authorities (those created from April 1995 onwards), London boroughs and national park authorities.

2. Statistics of planning applications received and decided by district planning authorities have been collected on a quarterly basis since April 1979, on the PS1 and PS2 General Development Control statistical returns. Prior to April 1986, these returns covered applications and decisions under section 29 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (since replaced by section 70 of the consolidated Town and Country Planning Act 1990).

3. Since then, data collection has been extended to cover other types of application requiring permission from local authorities, including listed building consents, conservation area consents and consent to display advertisements. This reflects the wider range of planning casework handled by district planning authorities. From April 1997, data have also been collected on receipt of Environmental Statements with planning applications, on the use of delegated powers, and on applications which the authority decided to advertise as departures from the Development Plan.

4. District planning authorities are sent the quarterly information bulletin together with more detailed figures for individual authorities in their respective Government Office region. These provide a set of yardsticks against which authorities can judge their own figures.

'County matters'

5. 'County matters' planning applications are predominantly concerned with minerals extraction and waste disposal developments, as set out in Schedule 1 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Town and Country Planning (Prescription of County Matters) Regulations 1980 (SI 1980/2010) and in Annex 7 of Planning Policy Guidance Note 23 'Planning and Pollution Control'.

6. Prior to April 1986 decisions made by county councils had been included in the returns (PS1/PS2) submitted by the district planning authorities. A review of these returns in 1985 recommended that information about county council applications should be collected separately and a quarterly collection of county council development control statistics relating to 'county matters' planning applications (the CPS1/2 Return) was introduced from the beginning of April 1989.

7. From April 1992, data collection was extended to cover other types of authority with responsibility for 'county matters' applications. From April 1995, the scope of the quarterly survey was widened to include collection of data on enforcement action taken by authorities relating to 'county matters' developments and from April 1997, data have also been collected on receipt of Environmental Statements with 'county matters' planning applications. From April 2000, information has been collected on the total number of (i) decisions on applications for consent, agreement or approval of details or schemes required by conditions, as defined by Article 21 of the GDPO 1995, and (ii) determinations of new conditions under the review, or periodic review, of mineral planning permissions (ROMPs).

Data presentation

8. All figures included in the commentary have been calculated using unrounded data. As a result, there may be some apparent discrepancy with figures shown in the tables.

9. The statistics shown in Tables 1 to 3, Chart 1, Maps 1 and 2 include estimates for non-responding authorities. These and the other tables are based on information provided to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister by 5th March 2002. Figures from planning authorities after 5th March were included in Tables 7 and 8 only where this was possible within the publication schedule.

10. The reorganisation of local government in England necessitated a change in the presentation of statistics for local authority areas. In Table 2, where data are presented by 'type of authority', figures for unitary authorities are included in the category 'non-metropolitan districts'. Figures for unitary authorities are shown in Tables 7 and 8 within the former county structure. In Tables 9 to 12 (relating to 'county matters'), figures are shown separately for the category 'unitary authorities'

11. A guide to the composition of Government Office Regions and their relationship to the Standard Statistical Regions is given at Annex A. Figures for the Standard Statistical Regions are available on request from the

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