How the decision is made

Appeals are judged by Inspectors, who are completely unbiased and professionally qualified in planning or a related area, like law or architecture.

An Inspector will decide most appeals, but there are some appeals that the First Secretary of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) will decide (for example, proposals that will affect more than just the local area). In those cases, the Inspector will still assess the appeal, but they will send a report with their recommendation to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State then considers whether to accept the Inspector's recommendation, and issues a decision letter through ODPM.

The Inspector will write the decision, or send a report to the Secretary of State. Where the Inspector decides the appeal, The Planning Inspectorate will send a copy of the decision to:

• the appellant;
• the LPA; and
• anyone else who wrote to ask us for a copy and anyone served with a copy of the enforcement notice.
  

For appeals decided by the written procedure, The Planning Inspectorate aim to issue the decision no later than five weeks after the site visit. For hearings they aim to issue the decision no later than seven weeks after the date of the hearing. For inquiries which last for one or two days, their aim is to issue the decision no later than seven weeks after the close of the inquiry. For inquiries that last longer it will usually take longer to issue the decision.

If the Secretary of State is making the decision it may take longer.