§ 33. Mr. A. J. Irvineasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether, with a view to achieving greater uniformity in the form and contents of letters conveying decisions upon planning appeals, he will arrange for a senior official in his Department to be responsible for the surveillance of all such letters before dispatch.
§ Mr. SandysI agree with the hon. Member that, where possible, rather more uniformity in the method of presenting appeal decisions is desirable; and I am considering how this might best be achieved.
§ Mr. IrvineI am much obliged to the Minister for that answer. Will he agree that the centralisation of his organisation, which I gather is now in progress, affords a useful opportunity for making the change suggested?
§ Mr. Rees-DaviesWill my right hon. Friend also consider in connection with this matter the necessity for ensuring that the planning appeals are properly reported, and that the code is kept up so that we may develop codification of the administrative decisions, to which people can refer, and thereby limit the number of appeals?
§ Mr. SandysOf course, reports in the newspapers are outside my control.
§ 34. Mr. A. J. Irvineasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will issue instructions to local planning authorities to give to appellants in planning appeals prior notice of the plans and maps that are to be produced and copies of the written statements it is intended to put in.
§ Mr. SandysI believe that local authorities do not normally deny appellants access to documents and maps; but if the hon. Member has any particular case of difficulty in mind perhaps he will let me know about it.
§ Mr. IrvineIs the Minister not aware that the general practice is for the local planning authority to produce maps and statements only after the appellant has concluded his case, and will he take note of the fact that this causes very real hardship on those occasions?
§ Mr. SandysI do not think that this is universal.