Tom Warth (Chief Operating Officer) talks about the human element behind planning as the latest performance statistics are published.
In the last couple of weeks two large solar farms were given development consent by the Government after independent examinations and recommendations by our inspectors.
Why do I mention that – we make thousands and thousands of decisions and recommendations a year after all?
No doubt it is good news for the applicants. Both schemes also contribute to the Government’s Plan for Change and the economic wellbeing of country.
But they also promise to generate enough renewable energy to power 380,000 homes – a decent size city. (See notes)
That’s real people in real homes and it’s a reminder that there are people’s lives behind every recommendation and decision we make and it’s why we make sure the same consideration, curiosity and quality go into each and every one.
Current performance
So how is that action translating into results? Well, our quarterly statistics have just been published and they tell us:
- The median decision time for all cases has been relatively stable over the year. The median for the last 12 months was 18.4 weeks.
- At the end of September 2026, there were 10,025 open cases, compared with 10,198 in October 2025.
- The Inspectorate has made 18,478 decisions in the last 12 months. There were 1,365 cases decided in September 2026 including 1,274 by written representations, 41 by hearings and 20 by inquiries.
- The Inspectorate now has 491 inspectors (450 Full Time Equivalent) compared to 455 (411.2FTE) at the end of October last year.
Some positive news there but that overall is not the same for every type of case. We know, in particular, that some enforcement appeals are taking considerably longer than we or our customers would like whilst some inquiries and hearings are being scheduled further ahead than expected. We’re working to improve this, but we also want to be realistic about the timescales customers may experience. You can see our latest published appeal timescales, including enforcement appeals, via this page on GOV.UK.
In the infrastructure world we've just completed the first 'acceptance' stage of an NSIP (Lighthouse Green Fuels) under the revised process following the Planning and Infrastructure Act bought in by the government to help drive an improved planning system. This is an example of how we are implementing Ministerial aims of streamlining the delivery of key national infrastructure.
In the plans service, we are preparing for a big increase in local plans examination as the ‘legacy’ system closes and the new plan-making system begins. Another example of the implementation of Government policy in which we play a key role.
Listening and acting
The data definitely tells us a lot and helps us shape our services, but we want more than the numbers. That’s why we value what you tell us about your own lived experience of the planning system and the services we provide.
There are lots of ways you can and do tell us, whether it be through the post-case surveys we issue, the chats we have at conferences, the questions and comments you provide in our webinars, or the responses you give in our stakeholder survey each year.
One thing that particularly pleased me in this year’s survey was the continued increase in those who responded to say they agreed or strongly agreed we have customer focus (39.6% in 2026 compared to 36.7% in 2025 and 31.1% in 2024). It’s not yet where we want it to be, but it is headed in the right direction.
We’re now around 18 months on from adopting a service model inside the Inspectorate which points all our resources towards supporting and improving the services we provide. Of course, there’s more to do but this is a good indication that this work is having a positive impact.
Quality and consistency
It was also encouraging that 69.8% of those who responded agreed or strongly agreed our decisions, recommendations and advice are of a high quality regardless of the outcome of a case.
But I do recognise a number of comments were concerned at a perceived lack of consistency in decision-making.
It may sound like a cliche, but we must always recognise no two cases are exactly alike so comparison can tricky. An Inspector will reach a decision based on the evidence before them in any individual appeal.
Importantly we undertake rigorous quality assurance of appeal decisions post-issue to ensure the quality of our decisions remains high and identify areas where that can be improved through continuous inspector learning and development. Your feedback helps us with this too.
Continuous improvements
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to suggest we are in the middle of the most substantial period of digital transformation undertaken by the Inspectorate.
Over the last year, we have continued to make progress across multiple services that support local planning authorities, applicants, developers and communities, as well as transforming the internal systems used every day by our case officers, inspectors and specialist teams.
In appeals, we have continued to expand the functionality available through our digital appeals service.
In the National Infrastructure planning service, we have been redesigning how users access information and navigate our services, read our recent blog post from Operations Lead, Oliver Blower.
We are also preparing for major changes to support the new local plans system and have launched a new service that allows users to search and access Crown development applications more easily, improving transparency and making information available in a more accessible format.
That kind of seismic change doesn’t happen easily, and I’m not surprised some of you expressed some frustration in the stakeholder survey on the early usability of some new systems.
However, we don’t just introduce these changes and run, each one is continually tested and updated to make them the most user-friendly for you and help improve services for all. Your honest feedback is one of the key drivers for that improvement.
Customers should expect to see new features and smoother experiences via our digital services as we continue to iterate.
Notes:
Sources for renewable energy data available via Green Hill Solar Farm and Steeple Renewables project
Stakeholder survey results:
Question: How far do you agree with the following statements? The Planning Inspectorate is…
How much do you agree with this statement? "Planning Inspectorate decisions, recommendations and advice, whether in your favour or not, are of a high quality ."
You can find all the Planning Inspectorate’s research and statistics including our latest performance and decision times at Research and statistics - GOV.UK. See also a selection of our casework decisions over a 5-year rolling period in our casework database.
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