Government report shows slowdown in speed of major application processing

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has published its quarterly statistics on planning applications, showing a slowdown in the processing of applications. The figures show that in the year ending June 2012, the proportion of major planning applications decided within 13 weeks was 57%. The equivalent figure for the year ending June 2011 was 65%.

However, the report did show an upturn in the last quarter, with the number processed with 13 weeks increasing from 53% to 60%. The 13 week periodis the target timeframe the Government has set for processing applications for "major developments".

The figures for minor and other applications, which have a target timeframe of eight weeks, also revealed a slight slowdown, with 70% of minor applications being decided within eight weeks in the year ending June 2012, as opposed to 74% in the preceding year; and 82% of other applications in the year ending June 2012, as opposed to 85% in the preceding year.

The Government has introduced measures in the recent Growth and Infrastructure Bill to allow planning applications for major developments to be decided by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) where the relevant local planning authority has been "designated" by the Secretary of State. The DCLG has suggested that a local planning authority will be "designated" if it has a "very poor record" in the "speed or quality" of deciding planning applications".