IN Brief:
- Most new planning and enforcement appeals in England must now be submitted through the Planning Inspectorate’s digital service rather than the ACP.
- The updated procedural guide applies to appeals relating to applications submitted on or after 1 April 2026.
- Most appeals under the new regime will follow a written representations route with tighter limits on introducing new evidence at appeal stage.
The Planning Inspectorate has made its digital appeals service the main route for most new planning and enforcement appeals in England, moving the legacy Appeals Casework Portal out of the front line for new cases. Existing appeals submitted through ACP can still be managed there, but new submissions are expected to go through the Appeal a planning decision service unless they fall into a smaller group of specialist appeal types that are not yet on the platform.
The change coincides with a new procedural framework for appeals relating to applications submitted on or after 1 April 2026. The shift is not only about where documents are uploaded. It also changes expectations around how appeal material is prepared, what procedure will usually be followed, and how far parties can rely on the appeal stage to introduce material that was not previously considered by the local planning authority.
The service already supports a broad range of appeal types, including householder, planning, listed building, commercial planning, advertisement, enforcement notice, enforcement notice listed building, and lawful development certificate cases. A number of specialist routes remain outside the new service for now, with further onboarding expected during the 2026/27 financial year. Planning teams, consultants, and developers will need to check the route carefully before submission, particularly where a case sits close to the boundary between standard and specialist categories.
Under the updated guidance, most appeals relating to applications submitted on or after 1 April 2026 are expected to follow the part 1 written representations procedure unless the Inspectorate determines otherwise. The guidance also makes clear that, in those cases, appellants are not generally able to introduce evidence at appeal stage that was not previously before the local planning authority, except in limited circumstances such as material changes. Where a revised technical case or amended scheme would overcome refusal reasons, the expectation is that a fresh planning application should be made rather than using the appeal to reconstruct the proposal.
That shifts more weight onto the original application file. Environmental material, technical reports, design justification, and planning balance arguments will need to be assembled with less reliance on the appeal stage as a fallback. For local authorities, it also increases the importance of clear refusal reasons, decision notices that accurately identify the relevant policy basis, and properly recorded committee resolutions. Cases that move quickly through a digital route will still turn on the quality of the evidence underneath them.
The transition has been building for some time. The Inspectorate had already signalled during 2025 that the new service would replace ACP in stages, with planning appeals moving first and enforcement appeals following. The April change turns that phased rollout into a working reality for most users. The digital service is intended to improve submission, tracking, and case handling, but the immediate effect is likely to be procedural discipline rather than dramatic acceleration.
That comes at a time when planning casework remains uneven across England. Local planning authorities continue to work with stretched resources, applicants are still facing long determination periods in some areas, and even mid-sized schemes are carrying larger technical packs than they did a few years ago. A cleaner digital route may remove some administrative friction, but it also raises the cost of weak preparation. An appeal that is easier to submit is not automatically easier to win.
For developers, consultants, and contractors moving schemes through planning, the practical consequence is early preparation. Appeal strategy now begins earlier in the life of the application, not after refusal. The documents submitted first time, and the decisions taken before determination, will do more of the work once a case reaches the Inspectorate.
