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London Borough of Southwark

Planning committee.

Southwark's planning committee decides the applications officers don't settle under delegation. It approved 92% of the 14,853 decisions that reached it, hears 97.9% of decisions to committee, and of the 2 refusals traced in recent minutes, 1 was overturned at appeal. Where it acts, and on what, is below.[1]

Labour majority42 members14,853 committee decisions2020–26
Southwark · ward map
Approval rate — by ward
Lower ~68%
Higher ~90%
At a glanceEach metric links to the investigation behind it
All investigations →
14,853
Committee decisions
2020–26
42
Members
Labour majority
ShowingAll years · subscriber →across all years on record — a period re-scopes the headline figures and the trend
Public planning-committee records, minutes and decision notices. Conduct in an official capacity only.
Members refusing officer-recommended approvals — London-wide[3]Dashed line = average per year
avg 4492016302017212018382019652020552021582022462023512024702025

Committee refusals of officer-recommended approvals traced in minutes across all 33 boroughs, by year. Southwark's own officer-alignment trend needs the officer recommendation on each committee item — a minutes-level source still being loaded.

What goes to committee — by application type[1]
Householder Application: 20% — click to filter the pageMinor application: 19%Approval of Details: 17%Works to a Tree in a Conservation Area: 9%Other: 36%
Householder Application20%
Minor application19%
Approval of Details17%
Works to a Tree in a Conservation Area9%
Other36%

Share of the 14,697 committee decisions on record. The call-in reason itself comes from committee minutes — not yet loaded.

In contextVersus London committees
Refusals in committee minutes2 · 33rd of 33
lower is betterdashed = London avg
Refused against officer advice ⚠ unverified1 · 23rd of 33
lower is betterdashed = London avg
Refusals overturned at appeal1 · 22nd of 33
lower is betterdashed = London avg
Grounds the committee acts on[2]

The policies most often cited on Southwark refusal notices — borough-wide, across officer and committee decisions alike. Which of these specifically drove a committee departure from the officer recommendation needs minute-level coding, not yet loaded, so the two aren't separated below.

NPPF293×
12 of the Core Strategy (2011)6×
London Plan 2021 Policy D124×
London Plan (2021) Policy HC13×
4.3 of the Saved Southwark Plan2×
P3 of the New Southwark Plan2×
148 and 149 of the National Planning Policy Framework 20212×
D4 and D6 of the New London Plan (2021)2×

216 high-confidence refusal notices parsed for Southwark. How often a refusal on each ground survives appeal isn't traced per policy yet.

How Southwark applies its planning policies →
Decisions by ward

Where the 80 committee decisions on record land, 2020–26.[1] Click the map above to explore spatially, or a row to open the ward.

The members — votes recorded

Member by member: the planning-committee votes recorded against each councillor in the published minutes, and how they lean.[2] How often each votes with the officer recommendation needs the officer rec on every item — not yet loaded, so it isn't shown.

MemberForAgainstVotes
Richard Livingstone81n=6Adam Hood20n=0Andy Higson00n=0Bethan Roberts20n=0Bill Williams00n=0Catherine Dawkins00n=0Catherine Rose00n=0Cleo Soanes00n=0Darren Merrill10n=0David Noakes00n=0David Parton10n=0Dean Peters00n=0Ellie Cumbo20n=0Emily Tester70n=0Esme Hicks00n=0Fatmata Bah00n=0Felix Hamer00n=0Francesco Guerrieri00n=0Gavin Edwards00n=0George Grime00n=0James Moyse00n=0Jane Salmon22n=0Jason Ochere20n=0John Batteson10n=0Jon Hartley00n=0Joseph Vambe30n=0Kath Whittam64n=0Leigh Richman00n=0Margy Newens32n=0Martin Seaton00n=0Michael Situ00n=0Mohamed Deen00n=0Nick Johnson00n=0Pascale Mitchell00n=0Richard Leeming110n=0Richard Taylor00n=0Ryan Cox00n=0Sabina Emmanuel00n=0Sam Dalton50n=0Sasjkia Otto00n=0Sean Hannigan00n=0Victoria Mills00n=0

Vote counts are matched from the minutes across inconsistent name forms and are still being completed. Click a member for every recorded vote.

Meeting minutes

The committee figures on this page are derived from Southwark's published decision notices and committee minutes. Agendas, full minutes and webcasts are published on the council's own democracy website — the source of truth for every meeting.

How these figures are derived — methodology ↗
Recent committee decisions
Address
Reference
Type
Outcome
Date
Full decision history locked
Subscribe to see all 80 decisions →
Committee members— subscriber data
At a glance
CommitteePlanning Committee (Major Applications) B
ControlLabour majority
Members42
Decisions14,853 (2020–26)
Committee approval92%
Delegated2.1%
Who decides here
GovernmentMayor of LondonCouncilCommitteeOfficersDecisionsApplicantsInspectorate
Related investigations
Committee Watch →
When members overturn the officer line — and how those calls fare at appeal.
The politics of housing in Southwark
Council composition, and how each councillor votes on planning applications.
Sources & method
  1. [1]Committee vs delegated split, committee approval rate and every committee-decided application — the decision-level field on Southwark's published decision notices, 2020–26. · methodology
  2. [2]Committee membership, party control and per-member vote counts — Southwark membership records and published planning-committee minutes; member matching across inconsistent name forms is still being completed.
  3. [3]Refusals against officer advice and appeal outcomes — committee minutes cross-matched with Planning Inspectorate appeal decisions (Committee Watch dataset, all 33 boroughs). · Committee Watch
Methodology is published in full so every number is traceable to its primary source.