§ 23. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government, in view of the delays which occur in obtaining planning permission for local authority building contracts, if he will take steps to review the machinery that exists for this purpose.
§ Mr. MacCollMy right hon. Friend is anxious to avoid all unnecessary delays. If my hon. Friend has any specific case in mind and will give me the details I shall be happy to investigate it.
§ Mrs. ShortDoes my right hon. Friend understand that serious frustration occurs with local authorities when their planning permissions are held up sometimes for months and occasionally for years? Will he undertake to have discussions with the local authority associations to see whether the obsolete planning machinery can be streamlined in order to step up the output of housing?
§ Mr. MacCollMy right hon. Friend is most anxious to speed up the giving of planning approvals and dealing with these cases, but it would greatly assist him in working out the best way of doing it if right hon. and hon. Members helped by giving particular cases in which the present machinery is breaking down.