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Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA): annual review 2022 to 2023
Planning and Environmental Appeals Division's annual review of its performance for 2022 to 2023.
Appendix A: Statistics On Workload And Performance Against Targets
Table 1: Volume Of Cases* Handled By DPEA
| Business year | In hand at start of the year | Received | Delegated appeals decided | Reports submitted | Withdrawn | In hand at end of the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 209 | 625 | 502 | 58 | 62 | 212 |
| 2021-22 | 199 | 577 | 468 | 53 | 46 | 209 |
| 2020-21 | 191 | 438 | 365 | 37 | 28 | 199 |
| 2019-20 | 213 | 601 | 470 | 69 | 84 | 191 |
| 2018-19 | 216 | 710 | 586 | 40 | 87 | 213 |
*Includes appeal and non-appeal cases
The total number of cases sisted/suspended as at 31 March 2023 was 29.
Table 2: Types Of Cases Received
| Type Of Case | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planning permission appeals | 291 | 227 | 229 | 258 | 245 |
| Planning enforcement appeals | 89 | 94 | 37 | 76 | 82 |
| Conservation area consent, listed building consent and listed building enforcement appeals | 80 | 69 | 48 | 51 | 56 |
| Advertisement consent, discontinuance notice and advertisement enforcement appeals | 73 | 51 | 33 | 23 | 43 |
| High Hedge appeal | 33 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 16 |
| All other types of appeal | 46 | 45 | 46 | 66 | 61 |
| Subtotal: all types of appeals | 612 | 503 | 401 | 494 | 503 |
| Called-in application | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Called-in listed building consent - demolition | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Completion Notice | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Compulsory Purchase Order | 8 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Core Paths Plan | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Extinguishment of Public Right of Way | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Flood Prevention Scheme | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Listed Building Notified Application | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Local Development Plan | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Notification Direction | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Notified application | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 13 |
| Power Station | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Public path creation/diversion/extinguishment order | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Purchase Notice | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Revocation order | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Roads order | 16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Section 36 Wind Farm | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 9 |
| Section 37 Transmission line | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Stopping up order | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Strategic Development Plan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Traffic Regulation Order | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Wayleave | 43 | 52 | 8 | 44 | 85 |
| Subtotal: all types of non-appeal cases | 98 | 98 | 37 | 83 | 122 |
| All Cases Received | 710 | 601 | 438 | 577 | 625 |
Table 3: Breakdown Of Cases Received By Their Characteristics
| Characteristics | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2022-2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advertisement | 78 | 57 | 33 | 24 | 46 |
| Agricultural | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 12 |
| Animal (cattery, kennel, stable etc.) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Building Alterations (householder) | 94 | 86 | 72 | 72 | 64 |
| Building Alterations (non-householder) | 28 | 20 | 12 | 20 | 17 |
| Business | 37 | 28 | 22 | 9 | 23 |
| Car park | 24 | 23 | 12 | 17 | 17 |
| Caravan and Campsites | 13 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 16 |
| Cemetery/Religious Building | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Chimney/Flue | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Community Asset Transfer | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Compulsory Purchase Order | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Demolition | 14 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 23 |
| Designation of Building/Monument | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Development Plan (Local) | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Development Plan (Strategic) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dock/Harbour | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Environmental Appeal | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| Fencing/Wall | 29 | 30 | 20 | 31 | 16 |
| Fish Farm | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Flood Prevention Scheme | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hazardous Substance | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hedge | 32 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 15 |
| Holiday/Leisure | 18 | 19 | 10 | 22 | 8 |
| Hospital/Medical Centre | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Hot Food Takeaway | 9 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| Hotels | 25 | 46 | 20 | 23 | 1 |
| House in Multiple Occupation | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Housing (10 or more houses) | 59 | 55 | 50 | 54 | 38 |
| Housing (more than one house) | 21 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Housing (single dwelling) | 58 | 46 | 47 | 43 | 65 |
| Hydro/Solar Power | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Industrial | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Landscaping | 37 | 37 | 15 | 37 | 38 |
| Leisure Facility/Ground | 9 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 6 |
| Meteorological/Anemometrical Mast | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mineral Extraction | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Nursing/Care/Retirement Home | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Other | 23 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 13 |
| Path | 6 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Petrol Station | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Power Station/Energy from Waste | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Recycling | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Restaurant/Cafe/Licensed Premises | 16 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 12 |
| Retail (food) | 5 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 2 |
| Retail (non-food) | 5 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 7 |
| Road/Bridge | 43 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 12 |
| Scheduled Monument | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| School/Educational | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Shed/Garage | 26 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 13 |
| Short stay accommodation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 57 |
| Short Stay Accommodation Under Application | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Storage (non-warehousing) | 8 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 7 |
| Substation/Transmission Line/Pipeline | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Telecommunication | 26 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 12 |
| Traffic Regulation Order | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Transport | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Travelling Persons Site | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Tree | 16 | 10 | 4 | 22 | 11 |
| Warehouse/Distribution | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Waste Disposal | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Water/Sewage | 19 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| Wayleave | 43 | 51 | 8 | 44 | 84 |
| Wind Farm (two or more turbines) | 17 | 12 | 23 | 24 | 16 |
| Wind turbine (single) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Windows - Timber | 4 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| Windows - UPVC | 26 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 15 |
Table 4a: Appeal Cases Success Rates By Method Of Determination
| Number decided | Considered by oral process | Considered by site visit/review of written submissions | All cases allowed | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Allowed | Percentage | Total | Allowed | Percentage | Allowed | Percentage | ||
| Delegate appeals | |||||||||
| Planning permission | 166 | 7 | 3 | 43% | 159 | 84 | 53% | 87 | 52% |
| Planning enforcement | 73 | 0 | - | - | 73 | 17 | 23% | 17 | 23% |
| Conservation area consent, listed building consent and listed building enforcement | 56 | 0 | - | - | 56 | 21 | 38% | 21 | 38% |
| Advertisement consent, discontinuance notice and advertisement enforcement | 37 | 0 | - | - | 37 | 26 | 70% | 26 | 70% |
| High hedge | 15 | 0 | - | - | 15 | 11 | 73% | 11 | 73% |
| All others | 43 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 42 | 21 | 50% | 22 | 51% |
| All Delegated Appeals | 390 | 8 | 4 | 50% | 382 | 180 | 47% | 184 | 47% |
| Non-delegated Appeals | 7 | 2 | 1 | 50% | 5 | 1 | 20% | 2 | 29% |
| All Appeals | 397* | 10 | 5 | 50% | 387 | 181 | 47% | 186 | 47% |
*In addition a further 112 appeals were turned away as we had no powers to determine them
Table 4b: Non-Appeal Cases Success Rates By Method Of Determination
| Case types | Number decided | Considered by oral process | Considered by site visit/review of written submissions | All cases allowed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Allowed | Percentage | Total | Allowed | Percentage | Allowed | Percentage | ||
| Called-in application | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 2 | 1 | 50% | 1 | 33% |
| Compulsory Purchase Order | 4 | 4 | 3 | 75% | 0 | - | - | 3 | 75% |
| Extinguishment of Public Right of Way | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | - | - | 1 | 100% |
| Notification Direction | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | - | - | 1 | 100% |
| Notified application | 9 | 0 | - | - | 9 | 6 | 67% | 6 | 67% |
| Public path creation/diversion/ extinguishment order | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | - | - | 1 | 100% |
| Roads order | 3 | 3 | 3 | 100% | 0 | - | - | 3 | 100% |
| Section 36 Wind Farm | 4 | 4 | 4 | 100% | 0 | - | - | 4 | 100% |
| Stopping up order | 6 | 6 | 5 | 83% | 0 | - | - | 5 | 83% |
| Traffic Regulation Order | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | - | - | 1 | 100% |
| Wayleave | 3 | 2 | 2 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 100% | 3 | 100% |
| Total: All Non-appeal Cases | 36 | 24 | 21 | 88% | 12 | 8 | 67% | 29 | 81% |
Table 5: Success Rates For Delegated Appeals By Planning Authority
| Planning authority | Appeals decided | Appeals allowed | Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen City Council | 18 | 9 | 50% |
| Aberdeenshire Council | 19 | 8 | 42% |
| Angus Council | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Argyll and Bute Council | 3 | 3 | 100% |
| Cairngorms National Park Authority | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| City of Edinburgh Council | 98 | 44 | 45% |
| Clackmannanshire Council | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Dumfries and Galloway Council | 14 | 5 | 36% |
| Dundee City Council | 9 | 7 | 78% |
| East Ayrshire Council | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | 13 | 10 | 77& |
| East Lothian Council | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| East Renfrewshire Council | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Falkirk Council | 6 | 2 | 33% |
| Fife Council | 28 | 10 | 36% |
| Glasgow City Council | 23 | 7 | 30% |
| Highland Council | 16 | 8 | 50% |
| Inverclyde Council | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority | 3 | 2 | 67% |
| Midlothian Council | 8 | 3 | 38% |
| Moray Council | 11 | 7 | 64% |
| North Ayrshire Council | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| North Lanarkshire Council | 7 | 4 | 57% |
| Orkney Islands Council | 3 | 3 | 100% |
| Perth and Kinross Council | 13 | 5 | 38% |
| Renfrewshire Council | 9 | 7 | 78% |
| Scottish Borders Council | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| South Ayrshire Council | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| South Lanarkshire Council | 4 | 3 | 75% |
| Stirling Council | 7 | 2 | 29% |
| West Dunbartonshire Council | 5 | 2 | 40% |
| West Lothian Council | 40 | 24 | 60% |
| Total | 386 | 183 | 47% |
| Note: if an authority is not listed in table 5 it means no delegated decisions have been issued for sites within said authority’s area within the period. | |||
Table 6a: Development Plan Examinations Completed
| Development plans | Number of reporters | Weeks to complete |
|---|---|---|
| Proposed Aberdeen Local Development Plan 2020 | 5 | 60 |
| Proposed Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan 2020 | 7 | 67 |
| East Dunbartonshire Proposed Local Development Plan | 2 | 55 |
Table 6b: Development Plan Examinations In Hand Or Completed After End Of March
| Development plans | Received | Report Date |
|---|---|---|
| Inner Moray Firth Proposed Local Development Plan 2 | 24/03/2023 | |
| East Ayrshire Local Development Plan 2 | 24/02/2023 | |
| Edinburgh Local Development Plan – Proposed City Plan 2030 | 08/12/2022 | |
| Scottish Borders Proposed Local Development Plan | 14/07/2022 | |
| Argyll & Bute Proposed Local Development Plan | 25/01/2022 | 13/06/2023 |
Table 7: Expenses Claims
| Number of claims | Successful claims | |
|---|---|---|
| By an authority against: | ||
| A main contact | 2 | 0 |
| By a main contact against: | ||
| An authority | 38 | 8 |
Table 8: Performance Against Our Targets
| Procedure | Target number of weeks to determine | Number of appeals | Performance against target | Average weeks taken to determine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Further Procedure | 8 | 7 | 86% | 7.6 |
| Site Inspection | 12 | 252 | 87% | 11.6 |
| Further Written Submission | 20 | 125 | 70% | 21.6 |
| Hearing | 26 | 6 | 0% | 47.3 |
| Inquiry | 32 | 2 | 0% | 48.3 |
Table 9: Time Taken To Submit Reports
| Case types | Reports submitted | Average weeks taken to submit |
|---|---|---|
| Recalled Planning Permission Appeals | 2 | 45.1 |
| Called-in & Notified Applications | 18 | 20.0 |
| Compulsory Purchase Orders | 3 | 78.8 |
| Other Orders | 13 | 72.6 |
| Section 36 Wind Farm Applications | 5 | 74.2 |
| Wayleave Applications | 11 | 35.9 |
| Community Asset Transfer Appeals | 3 | 16.7 |
| Core Paths Plans | 1 | 48.6 |
Contact
Email: dpea@gov.scot
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