Committee vs Delegated Analysis
Understand which applications go to planning committee and which are decided under delegated powers. Real data patterns that help you prepare for the right determination route.
Stage 3 Decision Intelligence — powered by 111+ authoritiesApproval rate is calculated on the 20,552 determined applications (granted or refused). The remaining 3,035 are withdrawn, advice-only, or have no recorded grant/refusal outcome — so 17,429 + 3,123 + 3,035 = 23,587.
National Context: Committee vs Delegated
Detailed committee/delegated route data is not yet available for this authority. Nationally, the typical pattern is:
- ~95% of applications are decided under delegated powers by planning officers
- ~5% go to planning committee — typically major developments, controversial schemes, or councillor call-ins
- Committee approval rates are generally lower than delegated (typically 70-80% vs 90%+)
- Committee decisions take longer — often 10-13 weeks vs 8 weeks for delegated
Decision Outcomes by Application Type
| Application Type | Total | Approved | Refused | Other | Approval Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Householder planning permission | 3,821 | 3,218 | 480 | 123 | 87% |
| Full planning permission | 3,284 | 2,234 | 729 | 321 | 75.4% |
| Approval of details reserved by a condition (discharge) | 3,050 | 2,579 | 213 | 258 | 92.4% |
| Lawful development: Proposed use | 2,105 | 1,655 | 287 | 163 | 85.2% |
| All Other | 1,726 | 1,174 | 144 | 408 | 89.1% |
| Tree works: Trees in conservation areas/subject to TPOs | 1,586 | 848 | 110 | 628 | 88.5% |
| Prior Approval: Larger Home Extension | 792 | 377 | 171 | 244 | 68.8% |
| Non-Material Amendment | 643 | 551 | 60 | 32 | 90.2% |
| Consent to display an advertisement | 530 | 434 | 72 | 24 | 85.8% |
| Full planning & listed building consent | 480 | 383 | 63 | 34 | 85.9% |
| Listed building consent | 475 | 431 | 32 | 12 | 93.1% |
| Full planning & display of advertisements | 438 | 211 | 208 | 19 | 50.4% |
| Removal/Variation of a condition | 431 | 331 | 65 | 35 | 83.6% |
| Lawful development: Existing use | 357 | 245 | 71 | 41 | 77.5% |
| Full | 268 | 221 | 31 | 16 | 87.7% |
| Outline | 224 | 188 | 14 | 22 | 93.1% |
| Householder planning & demolition in a conservation area | 193 | 154 | 31 | 8 | 83.2% |
| Householder planning & listed building consent | 174 | 150 | 16 | 8 | 90.4% |
| Householder | 165 | 128 | 29 | 8 | 81.5% |
| 165 | 95 | 5 | 65 | 95% |
Will Your Application Go to Committee?
Select the factors that apply to your application. Each factor increases the likelihood of a committee referral.
Understanding Committee vs Delegated
What is Delegated Decision?
Under the Scheme of Delegation, planning officers are authorised to determine most applications without going to committee. This is the faster route — typically 8 weeks for minor/householder applications. Around 95% of applications nationally are decided this way.
What Triggers Committee?
- Major applications (varies by LPA threshold)
- Ward member call-in request
- High volume of public objections
- Departure from the development plan
- Officer recommendation of refusal on major schemes
- Council's own development (conflict of interest)
How to Prepare for Committee
- Request to speak at committee (5 min usually allowed)
- Prepare visual aids — site photos, CGIs, drawings
- Brief supportive ward members in advance
- Address all objection themes explicitly
- Focus on material planning considerations
- Keep presentations concise and policy-grounded
Committee vs Delegated: Impact on Outcome
Committee decisions are statistically more likely to refuse than delegated decisions. However, a committee recommendation for approval can carry greater weight in any subsequent appeal, as it demonstrates elected member support for the proposal.
📊 Data sources & freshness
Committee/delegated split is only as good as what councils publish. Low completeness LPAs are typically Idox installations where the route field is council-side admin only.
- planning_applications.decision_route (updated Daily ingest)
Live ingest from LPA portals. Where this column is empty, the route was not published — see the completeness badge at the top of the result. - Scheme of Delegation reference ↗
For each LPA, refer to the published Scheme of Delegation to confirm which application types are reservable to committee. Use the FOI tool to request the latest scheme if not available online.