"8 weeks unless a longer period for the decision has been agreed"

[Alan Ambrose]

So, the LPA comes back to you before (or after 8 weeks) and says they want more time. What are the options and what are the limits in practice (a month?, 6 months?, a year?)

 

How accurate / precise should the LPA's request be - e.g. 'a few more weeks' or 'by 5th November'? At what point do you say 'no' and what happens then?

[DevilDamo]

The LPA will request an EoT if required and a revised date will be provided. If you choose not to agree, the LPA will determine the application on the information they have at the time. It’s in the applicant’s or agent’s interest to agree the EoT.

[BigBub]

From experience, most LPAs will ask for a 2 or 3 week EoT. Unless you have provided amended particulars that the case officer has advised are necessary to avoid refusal, it is rarely in the interest of the applicant. When you agree to an EoT the LPA do not have to record the application as being decided late, even if they miss the 8 weeks deadline. One main reason you might not want to agree is that you will lose out on the Planning Guarantee which entitles you to a refund of the application fee when a minor application takes longer than 16 weeks to be issued a decision.

 

I've noticed more and more LPAs charging additional fees for applications which are not valid on submission, for example if a drawing was missing a scale bar they would request that it is amended and also that a £60 invalid fee is paid. If they can charge for their time to validate an application, I am thinking to start requesting a fee from the LPA to agree an EoT. I know they will almost always refuse but it would be more to make a point that it's not just their time that is valuable.

[Alan Ambrose]

Thanks, I wonder how '8 weeks or EoT' works its way into the .gov stats, which has a '% decided in 8 weeks' as a metric. That's theoretically used for special measures status? Do the LPAs self-report for consolidation do you think?

[DevilDamo]

It appears you are more concerned about statistics than agreeing to and receiving a formal determination. 

[Alan Ambrose]

Well no, if you remember I’m dealing with one of the bottom 20 LPAs in the country - a few points above special measures … if you believe that the stats are accurate.

 

So stats give some clue re LPA behaviour, expectations, likely quality level (if they’re struggling, they’re probably cutting corners too). That is, the stats provide some useful context.