Planning Performance Statistics 2020/21: Quarterly (October 2020 To March 2021)

This report presents summary statistics on planning application decision-making timescales for October 2020 to March 2021, as well as historic data back to 2016/17. It is based on data collected from Local and Planning Authorities as part of the Planning Performance Framework (introduced in 2012).


9. Clock Stops

Tables 2 and 3 show the number of applications where the clock was stopped by the planning authority for applications decided in quarters three and four of 2020/21.

In the final six months of 2020/21 29 local authorities provided information on particular delays for 1,099 applications that were outwith their control and on which it was agreed it was appropriate to stop the clock for periods of time; 521 from 27 authorities in quarter three and 578 across 29 authorities in quarter four. In the previous year clock stopped periods were reported for 1,164 applications.

Table 2: Clock stops by planning authority 1, 2020/21, Quarter 3
Planning Authority Total applications decided in 2020/21 Q3 Number of applications with clock stopped Percentage of applications with clock stopped Average length of time clock stopped (weeks)
Aberdeen City 176 13 7.4% 21.3
Aberdeenshire 394 0 0.0% -
Angus 134 0 0.0% -
Argyll and Bute 296 45 15.2% 20.5
Cairngorms National Park (NP) 0 - - -
Clackmannanshire 64 5 7.8% 3.3
Dumfries and Galloway 246 0 0.0% -
Dundee City 156 9 5.8% 32.9
East Ayrshire 114 11 9.6% 28.2
East Dunbartonshire 224 53 23.7% 5.2
East Lothian 268 21 7.8% 27.1
East Renfrewshire 145 0 0.0% -
City of Edinburgh 823 5 0.6% 31.5
Falkirk 123 3 2.4% 12.5
Fife 469 0 0.0% -
Glasgow City 538 105 19.5% 14.8
Highland 621 16 2.6% 28.6
Inverclyde 94 8 8.5% 33.5
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs NP 57 13 22.8% 12.0
Midlothian 102 6 5.9% 14.1
Moray 177 64 36.2% 10.1
Na h-Eileanan Siar 104 5 4.8% 29.0
North Ayrshire 168 9 5.4% 10.2
North Lanarkshire 264 12 4.5% 13.9
Orkney Islands 83 19 22.9% 13.9
Perth and Kinross 414 11 2.7% 26.4
Renfrewshire 158 28 17.7% 15.9
Scottish Borders 178 3 1.7% 15.4
Shetland Islands 52 3 5.8% 17.7
South Ayrshire 197 0 0.0% -
South Lanarkshire 386 8 2.1% 17.4
Stirling 188 6 3.2% 4.0
West Dunbartonshire 64 31 48.4% 9.0
West Lothian 213 9 4.2% 25.8
Scotland 7,690 521 6.8% 15.8

1. Applications subject to Processing Agreements are not included in this analysis.

Table 3: Clock stops by planning authority 1, 2020/21, Quarter 4
Planning Authority Total applications decided in 2020/21 Q4 Number of applications with clock stopped Percentage of applications with clock stopped Average length of time clock stopped (weeks)
Aberdeen City 165 13 7.9% 23.8
Aberdeenshire 391 6 1.5% 9.0
Angus 131 0 0.0% -
Argyll and Bute 284 39 13.7% 14.9
Cairngorms National Park (NP) 0 - - -
Clackmannanshire 54 6 11.1% 16.3
Dumfries and Galloway 280 6 2.1% 5.4
Dundee City 133 6 4.5% 18.3
East Ayrshire 102 7 6.9% 4.2
East Dunbartonshire 205 48 23.4% 5.0
East Lothian 329 15 4.6% 35.7
East Renfrewshire 299 0 0.0% -
City of Edinburgh 894 6 0.7% 73.3
Falkirk 106 6 5.7% 9.1
Fife 385 0 0.0% -
Glasgow City 589 152 25.8% 10.3
Highland 683 17 2.5% 17.9
Inverclyde 91 5 5.5% 26.9
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs NP 83 14 16.9% 24.6
Midlothian 97 8 8.2% 21.7
Moray 156 68 43.6% 10.2
Na h-Eileanan Siar 117 9 7.7% 19.7
North Ayrshire 121 5 4.1% 7.1
North Lanarkshire 166 4 2.4% 24.0
Orkney Islands 122 24 19.7% 31.6
Perth and Kinross 368 11 3.0% 8.9
Renfrewshire 158 46 29.1% 6.2
Scottish Borders 161 3 1.9% 41.8
Shetland Islands 102 3 2.9% 9.7
South Ayrshire 186 0 0.0% -
South Lanarkshire 408 4 1.0% 28.2
Stirling 208 14 6.7% 2.9
West Dunbartonshire 58 19 32.8% 10.2
West Lothian 258 14 5.4% 10.6
Scotland 7,890 578 7.3% 13.5

1. Applications subject to Processing Agreements are not included in this analysis.

Contact

Email: Planning_Stats@gov.scot

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