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Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA): annual review 2023 to 2024
Planning and Environmental Appeals Division's annual review of its performance for 2023 to 2024.
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| Business year | In hand at start of the year | Received | Delegated appeals decided | Reports submitted | Withdrawn | In hand at end of the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 to 2024 | 212 | 613 | 498 | 69 | 57 | 201 |
| 2022 to 2023 | 209 | 625 | 502 | 58 | 62 | 212 |
| 2021 to 2022 | 199 | 577 | 468 | 53 | 46 | 209 |
| 2020 to 2021 | 191 | 438 | 365 | 37 | 28 | 199 |
| 2019 to 2020 | 213 | 601 | 470 | 69 | 84 | 191 |
*Includes appeal and non-appeal cases
The total number of cases sisted/suspended as of 31 March 2024 was 29.
Table 2: Types Of Cases Received
| Type Of Case | 2019 2020 | 2020 2021 | 2021 2022 | 2022 2023 | 2023 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planning permission appeals | 227 | 229 | 258 | 245 | 230 |
| Planning enforcement appeals | 94 | 37 | 76 | 82 | 109 |
| Conservation area consent, listed building consent and listed building enforcement appeals | 69 | 48 | 51 | 56 | 65 |
| Advertisement consent, discontinuance notice and advertisement enforcement appeals | 51 | 33 | 23 | 43 | 39 |
| High Hedge appeal | 17 | 8 | 20 | 16 | 18 |
| All other types of appeal | 45 | 46 | 66 | 61 | 88 |
| Subtotal: all types of appeals | 503 | 401 | 494 | 503 | 549 |
| Called-in application | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Completion Notice | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Compulsory Purchase Order | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| Core Paths Plan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Extinguishment of Public Right of Way | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Flood Prevention Scheme | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Listed Building Notified Application | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Local Development Plan | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Notification Direction | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Notified application | 6 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 10 |
| Power Station | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Public path creation/diversion/extinguishment order | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Purchase Notice | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Revocation order | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Roads order | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Section 36 Wind Farm | 5 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| Section 37 Transmission line | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Stopping up order | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| Strategic Development Plan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Traffic Regulation Order | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Wayleave | 52 | 8 | 44 | 85 | 28 |
| Called-in application | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Subtotal: all types of non-appeal cases | 98 | 37 | 83 | 122 | 64 |
| All Cases Received | 601 | 438 | 577 | 625 | 613 |
Table 3: Breakdown Of Cases Received By Their Characteristics
| Characteristics | 2018 2019 | 2019 2020 | 2020 2021 | 2022 2023 | 2023 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advertisement | 57 | 33 | 24 | 46 | 41 |
| Agricultural | 7 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 6 |
| Animal (cattery, kennel, stable etc.) | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Building Alterations (householder) | 86 | 72 | 72 | 64 | 71 |
| Building Alterations (non-householder) | 20 | 12 | 20 | 17 | 24 |
| Business | 28 | 22 | 9 | 23 | 10 |
| Car park | 23 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 12 |
| Caravan and Campsites | 9 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 17 |
| Cemetery/Religious Building | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Chimney/Flue | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Community Asset Transfer | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Compulsory Purchase Order | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Demolition | 15 | 13 | 13 | 23 | 19 |
| Designation of Building/Monument | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Development Plan (Local) | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Development Plan (Strategic) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dock/Harbour | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Environmental Appeal | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| Fencing/Wall | 30 | 20 | 31 | 16 | 16 |
| Fish Farm | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Flood Prevention Scheme | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hazardous Substance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hedge | 17 | 8 | 20 | 15 | 18 |
| Holiday/Leisure | 19 | 10 | 22 | 8 | 8 |
| Hospital/Medical Centre | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hot Food Takeaway | 8 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| Hotels | 46 | 20 | 23 | 1 | 2 |
| House in Multiple Occupation | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Housing (10 or more houses) | 54 | 47 | 55 | 38 | 26 |
| Housing (more than one house) | 22 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 28 |
| Housing (single dwelling) | 46 | 47 | 43 | 65 | 40 |
| Hydro/Solar Power | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Industrial | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Landscaping | 37 | 15 | 37 | 38 | 15 |
| Leisure Facility/Ground | 4 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| Meteorological/Anemometrical Mast | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mineral Extraction | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Nursing/Care/Retirement Home | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Other | 5 | 4 | 21 | 13 | 27 |
| Path | 9 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| Petrol Station | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Power Station/Energy from Waste | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Recycling | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Restaurant/Cafe/Licensed Premises | 7 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 8 |
| Retail (food) | 10 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Retail (non-food) | 14 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
| Road/Bridge | 23 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 13 |
| Scheduled Monument | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| School/Educational | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| Shed/Garage | 20 | 24 | 27 | 13 | 11 |
| Short stay accommodation | 0 | 0 | 9 | 58 | 156 |
| Storage (non-warehousing) | 19 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 10 |
| Student Accommodation | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Substation/Transmission Line/Pipeline | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Telecommunication | 1 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 8 |
| Traffic Regulation Order | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Transport | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Travelling Persons Site | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tree | 10 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 8 |
| Warehouse/Distribution | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Waste Disposal | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Water/Sewage | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 35 |
| Wayleave | 51 | 8 | 44 | 84 | 28 |
| Wind Farm (two or more turbines) | 12 | 23 | 24 | 16 | 10 |
| Wind turbine (single) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Windows - Timber | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| Windows - UPVC | 21 | 6 | 12 | 15 | 13 |
Table 4a: Appeal Cases Success Rates By Method Of Determination
| Appeal type | 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 | ||
| Planning permission | 137 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 136 | 61 | 45% | 62 | 45% |
| Planning enforcement | 83 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 83 | 8 | 10% | 8 | 10% |
| Conservation area consent, listed building consent and listed building enforcement | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 57 | 24 | 42% | 24 | 42% |
| Advertisement consent, discontinuance notice and advertisement enforcement | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 33 | 12 | 36% | 12 | 36% |
| High hedge | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 11 | 5 | 45% | 5 | 45% |
| All others | 63 | 4 | 3 | 75% | 59 | 26 | 44% | 29 | 46% |
| All Delegated Appeals | 384 | 5 | 4 | 80% | 379 | 136 | 36% | 140 | 36% |
| Non-delegated Appeals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 50% | 2 | 1 | 50% | 2 | 50% |
| All Appeals | 388 | 7 | 5 | 71% | 381 | 137 | 36% | 142 | 37% |
*In addition, a further 114 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 | ||
| Compulsory Purchase Order | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Listed Building Notified Application | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 100% |
| Notification Direction | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Notified application | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 7 | 3 | 43% | 3 | 38% |
| Purchase Notice | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Revocation order | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Section 36 Wind Farm | 12 | 11 | 6 | 55% | 1 | 1 | 100% | 7 | 58% |
| Traffic Regulation Order | 4 | 3 | 2 | 67% | 1 | 1 | 100% | 3 | 75% |
| Wayleave | 22 | 10 | 10 | 100% | 12 | 12 | 100% | 22 | 100% |
| Total: All Non-appeal Cases | 51 | 28 | 18 | 64% | 23 | 18 | 78% | 36 | 71% |
Table 5: Success Rates for Delegated Appeals by Planning Authority
| Planning authority | Appeals decided | Appeals allowed | Percentage Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen City Council | 19 | 8 | 42% |
| Aberdeenshire Council | 24 | 8 | 33% |
| Angus Council | 9 | 4 | 44% |
| Argyll and Bute Council | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| Cairngorms National Park Authority | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| City of Edinburgh Council | 129 | 38 | 29% |
| Clackmannanshire Council | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Dumfries and Galloway Council | 6 | 3 | 50% |
| Dundee City Council | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| East Ayrshire Council | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | 6 | 5 | 83% |
| East Lothian Council | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| East Renfrewshire Council | 10 | 4 | 40% |
| Falkirk Council | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Fife Council | 21 | 6 | 29% |
| Glasgow City Council | 36 | 16 | 44% |
| Highland Council | 17 | 9 | 53% |
| Historic Environment Scotland | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Midlothian Council | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Moray Council | 5 | 3 | 60% |
| North Ayrshire Council | 3 | 1 | 33% |
| North Lanarkshire Council | 7 | 1 | 14% |
| Orkney Islands Council | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Perth and Kinross Council | 14 | 6 | 43% |
| Renfrewshire Council | 5 | 2 | 40% |
| Scottish Borders Council | 11 | 6 | 55% |
| Shetland Islands Council | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| South Ayrshire Council | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| South Lanarkshire Council | 12 | 2 | 17% |
| Stirling Council | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| West Dunbartonshire Council | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| West Lothian Council | 21 | 11 | 52% |
| Total | 384 | 140 | 36% |
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 6: Development Plan Examinations Completed
| Development plans | Number of reporters | Weeks to complete |
|---|---|---|
| Argyll & Bute Proposed Local Development Plan | 4 | 71 |
| Scottish Borders Proposed Local Development Plan | 4 | 51 |
| East Ayrshire Local Development Plan 2 | 3 | 43 |
| Edinburgh Local Development Plan - Proposed City Plan 2030 | 6 | 68 |
| Inner Moray Firth Proposed Local Development Plan 2 | 5 | 43 |
Table 7: Expenses Claims
| Claimed By | Number of claims | Successful claims |
|---|---|---|
| an authority against a main contact | 1 | 1 |
| a main contact against an authority | 31 | 9 |
| an other party against a main contact | 1 | 0 |
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 | 22 | 91% | 7.1 |
| Site Inspection | 12 | 261 | 91% | 10.7 |
| Further Written Submission | 20 | 99 | 83% | 18.1 |
| Hearing | 26 | 5 | 0% | 38.7 |
Table 9: Time Taken to Submit Reports
| Case types | Reports submitted | Average weeks taken to submit |
|---|---|---|
| Recalled Planning/Listed Building Appeals | 5 | 37.2 |
| Community Asset Transfer Appeals | 1 | 25.4 |
| Called-in & Notified Applications | 11 | 24.8 |
| Compulsory Purchase Orders | 3 | 43.2 |
| Other Orders | 7 | 36.9 |
| Section 36 Wind Farm Applications | 8 | 51.2 |
| Section 37 Transmission Lines | 6 | 89.5 |
| Wayleave Applications | 23 | 30.4 |
Contact
Email: dpea@gov.scot
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