Planning Application Statistics stakeholder feedback survey 2023: results

This paper sets out the results of the PPS Stakeholder Feedback Survey that was undertaken in early 2023. The results will help to shape the PAS survey. Since this survey the name of this survey has been changed to Planning Application Statistics (PAS).

Fourteen responses were achieved meaning the results contain some very small numbers. For this and to avoid the results being disclosive, exact figures are not reported but general trends instead. Figures do not represent all stakeholders.

This paper will be shared with the Office of National Statistics to feed into a UK-wide stakeholder feedback exercise on planning statistics. 

We would like to thank all those who took the time to participate in the survey. No personal data was collected, and response were anonymous. The raw data will be deleted when this paper is published. 

Findings

Question 1: Which group best represents you?

All stakeholders answered this question.

• the majority of our stakeholders work in local government and some participants were not working at the time of the survey

Question 2: Which of our outputs do you use?

All stakeholders answered this question.

• nearly all use our Excel tables
• around two-thirds use our statistical publication (pdf and html version)
• only a few use our supporting documents (survey guide, quality assurance process, revisions policy etc.)

Question 3: If you do use our Excel tables, which tables do you use?

Only a few stakeholders answered this questions. No specific tables were identified, however some general uses were provided as follows:

• some said all tables
• some said annual tables
• almost equal numbers said the midyear and yearend tables
• only a few said historic tables
• some said tables relevant to the Planning Performance Framework

Question 4: What, if anything, could we do to improve our statistics for you?

Only a few stakeholders answered this questions. This could suggest that most are content with these statistics. Some stakeholders said:

• no changes needed
• show findings using a dashboard or map
• more quarterly comparisons and ability to toggle between quarterly and annual findings
• a new table on performance of short-term let legislation including a new development type for these lets?
• difficulty getting the built-in macros to run

Question 5: Which Planning Performance Statistics releases do you use?

All stakeholder answered this questions.

• nearly all stakeholders use the midyear, the yearend and the annual tables
• only some use the annual publication alone 

Question 6: The Planning Performance Statistics results are currently broken down by quarter. It has been suggested that this could be changed to six-monthly results. Which do you prefer? 

All stakeholders answered this question.

• nearly all stakeholders prefer results on quarterly basis 
• only a few would prefer six-monthly results

Question 7: How do you use the Planning Performance Statistics?

Nearly all stakeholder answered this question. Some stakeholders said:

• to monitor planning performance, both internal reports and the annual Planning Performance Framework reports provided to the Scottish Government
• to compare performance in the current year with previous years 
• to compare performance with other local authorities and at Scotland level
• to inform planning policy
• to inform the allocation of resources to improve planning performance
• to analyse trends and surges by application type
• to drive planning improvements
• to report to elected members
• to answer planning queries including FOIs and EIRs

Question 8: Do you link the Planning Performance Statistics to any other datasets?

Only a few stakeholders answered this questions. Some stakeholders said:

• most do not do any data linkage
• a few do some data linkage

Question 9: If you do link the Planning Performance Statistics to any other datasets, what datasets do you link to?

Only a few stakeholders answered this questions. Some stakeholders said:

• the Planning Performance Framework
• heads of planning surveys
• datasets on the volume of applications and available resource
• service performance indicators

Question 10: Do you have any additional suggestions or comments about the Planning Performance Statistics?

Around half of stakeholders answered this question. Some stakeholders said:

• some stakeholders are content 
• some stakeholders said that the statistics are valuable
• include section 36 and section 37 electricity applications as they are resource intensive to process these applications
• speed up processing and publication time (could using Power BI help?)
• make the statistics more accessible/ easy read
• the Planning Performance Framework classifies legacy cases as those over one year, but the PAS survey classifies them as before August 2009? It’s also unclear how the legacy cases are RAG Rated in annual performance. 
• is the context statement needed as there is no indication of how it is used?