The Planning Inspectorate Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21
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The Planning Inspectorate Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 HC XXXX HC 418 The Planning Inspectorate Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section 7 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 8th July 2021. HC 418 Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to: The Planning Inspectorate, The Planning Inspectorate, Contents Temple Quay House, Cathays Park, 2 The Square, Cardiff Temple Quay, CF10 3NQ Bristol Tel: 0303 444 5940 2 - 7 Performance overview BS1 6PN Go straight to the highlights of our performance, including our challenges, successes Tel: 0303 444 5000 and strategic risks. Review what we did in 2020/21 and what we are planning for 2021/22 to deliver our 2020/24 Strategy. Email: General Enquiries: [email protected] 8 - 37 Performance report Press Enquiries: [email protected] Get insights from our Chief Executive and the Chair of the Board before getting to know Welsh Enquiries: [email protected] our organisation and the context in which we operate. Our stakeholders and customers - page 12 The creation of the Welsh Inspectorate - This publication is available in: Mae’r cyhoeddiad hwn hefyd ar gael yn Saesneg Our regulatory framework - page 14 page 30 Welsh - contact the Inspectorate’s Cardiff office. trwy gysyltu â Swyddfa’r Arolygiaeth yng Our strategy - page 16 Our three public services - page 32 Large Print - contact the Inspectorate’s Bristol Nghaerdydd, ac mewn print bras trwy gysyltu â Our risk profile - page 18 Our quality assurance - page 34 Office. Swyddfa’r Arolygiaeth ym Mryste. Our organisation - page 28 Our operations - page 36 38 - 69 Performance analysis A dive into the numbers and an analysis of our operational performance, broken down by the public services we provide, as well as our performance in terms of customer service, environment and sustainability, and finance. 70 - 110 Accountability report © Crown copyright 2021 Read about our Chief Executive and Directors' responsibilities to Parliament, the arrangements we set up to discharge our public duties and the internal controls we have This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where in place to comply with all required regulations. otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ Statement of the Accounting Officer’s Key controls - page 81 version/3. responsibilities - page 71 Remuneration and staff reports - page 90 Directors' report - page 72 Parliamentary accountability and audit Where we have identified any third-party copyright information, you will need to obtain permission Governance statement - page 74 report - page 102 from the copyright holders concerned. 111 - 129 Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 This publication is available at www.gov.uk/official-documents. Review in detail our financial statements. Statement of comprehensive net Statement of changes in taxpayers’ equity - expenditure - page 112 page 115 ISBN 978-1-5286-2720-7 Statement of financial position - page 113 Notes to the Accounts - page 116 Statement of cash flows - page 114 CCS 0121932882 07/21 130-133 Annex Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre minimum content. We are liaising with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve how our performance is measured, but you can see our performance against Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. long-standing ministerial targets in Annex 1. Performance Overview To be customer focused Introduction We have diverse customers with diverse needs. We know most customers want a better service, delivered in a timely manner and our information to be clear, As the Planning Inspectorate consistent and easily accessible. Beyond this, we are using the insights from the we are fair when it comes to Institute of Customer Service's survey to improve our customer service. listening to differing views, Activities delivered in 2020/21 Strategic risks open in the way we work, • We merged customer-facing roles into one team and • S11 Data protection impartial in our examinations, created new roles to improve our customer service. • S13 Failure to manage stakeholders • We benchmarked our customer service through the • S17 Missing opportunities to deciding appeals and handling Institute of Customer Service. improve customers' experience applications and focused on Activities planned for 2021/22 delivering for our customers. • We will develop a customer strategy to deepen our understanding and gain insights about our customers' needs and expectations. Across England and Wales, our Inspectors • We will use those insights from customers to drive and prioritise changes and innovation. deliver decisions and recommendations across • We will take actions on the findings from the Institute of Customer Service survey (read more). our three public services: examinations, appeals and applications. Performance To do this, we make sure development is • The Institute of Customer Service surveyed a sample of our customers. We scored 57.6% on carefully considered, that the right homes are the benchmark scale (the public services national sector score is 76.1%) and scored 60.5% on constructed in the right places, and that green customer service (the public services national sector score is 77%). spaces are protected. We make sure that • These results provide us with the important insights we need to enable us to improve and meet proposed developments meet future needs for the expectations of our customers. the economy, environment and society and that the community’s views on large infrastructure applications are heard. We uphold and promote Graph 1. Inspectorate's score against the Graph 2. Inspectorate's score on customer quality, assuring the checks and balances of Institute of Customer Service's benchmark service the planning system, so that decisions are fair, 100% 100% impartial and open. We examine the local plans from Local Authorities that set the framework Public services national Public services national 77% for economic, social and environmental 76.1% sector’s score on the sector’s score on priorities. We have specialist experts able to Institute of Customer customer service advise and decide cases on specialist subjects Service’s benchmark Planning Inspectorate’s across environmental, ecological, historic Planning Inspectorate’s 60.5% 57.6 % score on customer service and arboricultural matters. The work of our score on the Institute Inspectors is supported by skilled professionals of Customer Service’s delivering casework support, specialist advice, benchmark customer service, corporate services, knowledge management, project management and digital expertise. 0 0 2 The Planning Inspectorate Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 3 Performance Overview To effectively and efficiently serve people, Graph 3. Appeals in England over the last five years places and the economy 24 23 25 21 weeks Our work results in well-informed decisions, reports and recommendations that 18 17 serve people, places and the economy. As part of the country's recovery from the 25k impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we'll play our part by focusing on delivering our appeals work in a timely manner. Activities delivered in 2020/21 Strategic risks • We adapted the way we work to keep casework • S1 Capability and capacity moving despite the pandemic. This year we made • S3 Change projects' benefit realisation 22.4k 20.4k 24.4k 19.3k 22.9k 18.6k 22.1k 22.6k 20.1k 16.9k around 17,000 recommendations and decisions in • S4 Operational performance 0 0 England and over 500 in Wales. • S12 Failure to embed changes 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 • We implemented safety measures for site visits • S15 Impact of national infrastructure and held over 700 virtual hearings and inquiries. applications Median decision Number of Number of • We developed a more advanced modelling time for appeals appeals cases appeals cases capability to improve Inspector programming, cases received decided optimising our use of skills and resources. Activities planned for 2021/22 • We will simplify the way we write and publish decisions and recommendations, to improve Graph 4. Planning appeals in Wales over the last five years accessibility for our customers. • We will use a hybrid of procedures, mixing elements from written representations, hearings and 25 inquiries, in order to improve the flexibility of our operations. • We will continue to develop and trial digital public services for our customers. 25 weeks • We will liaise with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve how 19 our performance is measured. 18 • We will invest to improve our performance. 600 15 planning 13 Performance in England Performance in Wales appeals • We issued 32 reports following the • We issued one report following a local examination of local plans and issued 10 development plan examination and two reports in response to Nationally Significant reports in response to Development of Infrastructure Project applications. National Significance applications. • We made over 16,800 decisions in response • We made 500 decisions in response to to appeals. appeals. 544 553 578 491 527 532 521 434 509 488 0 0 • The pandemic impacted our capacity to • The pandemic impacted our capacity to make 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 make decisions