§ 11. Mr. Loveysasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs the number of planning appeal applications received by his Department during the last twelve months; how these figures compare with the previous twelve months; and the approximate time that is taken to deal with these appeals.
§ Mr. BevinsSeven thousand, seven hundred and sixty-eight appeals were received during the twelve months ended 31st May last, and 7,329 during the previous twelve months. The average time taken to determine an appeal is now about six months.
§ Mr. LoveysI thank my hon. Friend for those figures, but I would point out that a delay of six months causes considerable hardship when it means that during the summer months no building can take place? Is my hon. Friend confident that everything is being done to speed up these appeals, including the full use of the Minister's powers, under the Act, to deal with minor cases by correspondence?
§ Mr. BevinsYes. In fact, the number of these appeals has doubled in the last six years, but my right hon. Friend is trying to reduce the delay in a variety of ways, such as, where the parties agree, dealing with cases on the basis of written representations, by increasing the number of inspectors and by putting out more information about the general planning policy of Her Majesty's Government. We are doing all we can.