Planning performance
Planning authorities are legally required to publish an annual report on their performance under the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.
The National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) is the process for measuring performance and producing an annual report. It creates a performance-measurement framework based on self‑assessment, stakeholder peer review, and collaboration with our local authority partner Scottish Borders Council.
The national self-assessment framework consists of 5 themes:
- People
- Culture
- Tools
- Engage
- Place
This has been developed by stakeholders from a range of perspectives and interests in planning. The themes have been identified as key to achieving a high performing planning authority.
In each of the five themes, there are 12 attributes which need a detailed narrative to update on:
- Performance
- Statutory indicators
- Continuous improvement
- Collaboration
- Stakeholder engagement
Completing the self‑assessment, developing an action plan, recognising good practice and identifying areas for improvement will help make sure our planning authority maintains a strong and effective performance framework.
Our improvement action plans and performance assessments reports are available to view on the Improvement Service website, along with other local authorities.
View the previous annual report submissions to the Scottish Government.
We further monitor our performance against our Service Standards set out in our customer charter. View more information about the customer charter and how to give feedback.
Planning application statistics
Key performance indicators on planning application statistics are provided in the tables.
They include:
- Types of application
- Average time taken to determine applications
Planning application statistics don't fully reflect how the planning system is performing. Many planning applications are complex and need specialist input, so different factors can influence timelines.
We encourage applicants to work with us to make their proposals acceptable in planning terms, instead of refusing them early on. This can sometimes extend the decision timescales.
| Performance indicators: 2025/26 | |||||
| Performance indicator | Current target | Q1 (April to June 2025) | Q2 (July to September 2025) | Q3 (October to December 2025) | Q4 (January to March 2026) |
| Householder applications - average number of weeks to determine a householder application | 7 weeks | 7.2 weeks |
6.6 weeks |
7.4 weeks | |
| Local (non-householder) applications - average number of weeks to determine a local (non-householder) application | 10 weeks | 8.4 weeks | 10.7 weeks | 7.9 weeks | |
| Major applications - average number of weeks to determine a major application | 35 weeks | 13.2 weeks | 15.4 weeks | 13 weeks | |
| Annual performance indicators | |||
| Performance indicator | 2022 to 2023 | 2023 to 2024 | 2024 to 2025 |
| Householder applications - average number of weeks to determine a householder application | 7.9 weeks | 8.2 weeks | 7.3 weeks |
| Local (non-householder) applications - average number of weeks to determine a local (non-householder) application | 15.1 weeks | 12.7 weeks | 8.4 weeks |
| Major applications – average number of weeks to determine a major application | 21.5 weeks | 25.6 weeks | 16.1 weeks |
| Maintain an overall customer satisfaction rate of 90% | 64% | 59% | 52.9% |
National statistics
The Scottish Government publishes regular statistics on planning application decisions and timescales for all planning authorities.
You can view our performance on the Scottish Government website.