BCP Planning: 9th Slowest of 296 Councils in England

BCP Council announced on 8 September that its planning service is now beating the government’s targets, having cut a backlog of 734 cases by 95% since 2021. For the most recent quarter the government has published, that is true.

Over the full year the government actually measures, it is not. On the department’s own designation table, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is the ninth slowest of 296 district planning authorities in England at deciding applications for major development.

Both facts come from the same source: the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which publishes every council’s planning performance quarterly.

What the council said

The council’s statement, published on its news hub, gives three figures:

• the application backlog is down 95% from 734 cases in 2021
• 100% of major applications were determined on time, against a government target of 60%
• 93% of all applications were determined on time, against a target of 70%

Cllr Millie Earl, leader of BCP Council, said: “I’m proud of the progress our planning service has made to deliver better outcomes for residents and developers.”

The council credits early engagement with big applicants including AFC Bournemouth, JPMorgan Chase and Bournemouth Airport, quality feedback to applicants at an early stage, easier navigation on its planning pages, and the merging of three separate planning systems inherited when BCP was created in 2019.

What the department’s data says

The department’s open data for BCP, covering the four quarters to 31 March 2026, matches the council’s quarterly claim almost exactly. In January to March 2026 it recorded 23 major decisions at BCP and 23 of them on time, and 566 decisions across all categories with 524 on time, which is 92.6%.

The quarter before that was 78.9% on majors. The two before that were 59.4% and 55.0%.

Averaged across the 12 months to March 2026, which is the period the Secretary of State actually uses, BCP made 94 major decisions and 72.3% of them on time. The England figure for the same period is 91.3%. The South West figure is 89.8%. Neighbouring authorities: Dorset 93.9%, Portsmouth 96.3%, Southampton and Plymouth both 100%.

Sorted by that measure, BCP sits ninth from the bottom of the 296 English district planning authorities in the table. Every authority below it decided between 5 and 53 major applications in the year. BCP decided 94, so it is by some way the busiest authority near the bottom of the list.

The detail the target hides

“On time” does not mean what most people assume. The statutory period for a major application is 13 weeks, or 16 weeks where an environmental impact assessment is required. A decision also counts as on time if it is made within an extension agreed in writing with the applicant.

Of BCP’s 94 major decisions in the 12 months to March 2026:

• 11 were made within the statutory 13 weeks
• 76 were subject to a planning performance agreement, an agreed extension of time or an EIA, and 57 of those were made within the agreed period
• the other 7 had no agreed extension and missed the 13 weeks

So 68 of 94 counted as on time, which is the 72.3%. Nineteen decisions overran an extension the applicant had already agreed to, and 7 overran with no extension at all.

That 11 out of 94, or 11.7%, compares with 1,924 out of 9,483 nationally, which is 20.3%. And where an extension had been agreed, BCP met it in 57 of 76 cases, 75%, against 6,733 of 7,228 nationally, 93.2%.

So the target is being met largely through extensions rather than through statutory deadlines, and BCP is more reliant on that route than the average council, and less reliable within it.

What designation would mean

The 60% figure the council quotes is not a target in the ordinary sense. It is the threshold below which the Secretary of State can designate an authority as underperforming, under section 62B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The threshold for non-major applications is 70%. Since a change made in December 2024, both are assessed over 12 months rather than two years.

If an authority is designated for major applications, applicants can bypass it and take their applications straight to the Planning Inspectorate. The council also has to prepare an action plan.

In the 12 months to March 2026, one English authority was below the 60% line: Havant, at 58.3%. BCP, at 72.3%, was not close to designation, and its two-year figure of 78.3% is higher still. The direction of travel is also the right one: 55.0%, then 78.9%, then 100%.

What it means for you

If you have a major application with BCP, the useful number is not 100%. It is 11 out of 94. On the department’s most recent full year, roughly one in nine major applications was decided inside the statutory 13 weeks, and the rest went to an agreed extension, which you as the applicant have to sign. Budget for that when you plan a project, and read any extension request as the real timetable.

If you are a neighbour objecting to one, the same figures tell you the window is usually longer than 13 weeks, so a consultation period ending soon rarely means a decision is imminent.

If you are watching a specific site, the council’s register is at planning.bcpcouncil.gov.uk, and the applications we are following are on our Bournemouth planning news page.

The department’s next release, covering April to June 2026, will be the first independent check on whether the January to March turnaround held.

Frequently asked questions

How long does BCP Council take to decide a planning application?

The statutory period for a major application is 13 weeks, or 16 weeks where an environmental impact assessment is required. In the 12 months to March 2026 BCP made 94 major decisions and 11 of them inside 13 weeks. Most of the rest went to an extension agreed in writing with the applicant.

Does BCP Council meet the government’s planning targets?

Yes, on the measure that counts. Over the 12 months to March 2026 it decided 72.3% of major applications within 13 weeks or an agreed extension, above the 60% threshold for designation. The England average for the same period was 91.3%.

What does it mean if a council is designated for poor planning performance?

The Secretary of State can designate an authority under section 62B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 if fewer than 60% of its major decisions, or fewer than 70% of its non-major decisions, are made on time over 12 months. Applicants can then take applications for that category straight to the Planning Inspectorate, and the council has to prepare an action plan.

Was BCP Council ever close to being designated?

It fell below the 60% threshold in two single quarters, April to June 2025 at 59.4% and July to September 2025 at 55.0%. Designation is assessed over 12 months rather than a single quarter, and BCP’s 12-month figure did not go below 60%.

Where can I check a Bournemouth planning application?

On the council’s own register at planning.bcpcouncil.gov.uk, which serves a disclaimer page before it lets you search. The applications we are following are on our Bournemouth planning news page.

Sources

• BCP Council, planning service exceeds national targets after strong performance progress, 8 September 2026 for the 734-case backlog, the 95% reduction, the 100% and 93% figures, the 60% and 70% targets, the Millie Earl quote and the named applicants.
• MHCLG, Table P151a: district planning authorities’ performance, speed of major development decisions, April 2024 to March 2026 for BCP’s quarterly and 12-month on-time rates, the split between decisions within 13 weeks and decisions within an agreed extension, the England and South West averages, the comparator authorities and BCP’s position in the ranking of 296 authorities.
• MHCLG, district planning application statistics (PS2), last four quarters to 31 March 2026 for the 23 of 23 major decisions and 524 of 566 total decisions in January to March 2026.
• MHCLG, Improving planning performance: criteria for designation (updated 2024) for the 60% and 70% thresholds, the move to a 12-month assessment period, the section 62B power and the consequences of designation.

Published 10 September 2026. The 12-month and 24-month figures are marked provisional by the department.