§ 18. Sir Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning applications were dealt with by officers of regional branches of his Department in the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. TraceySixty-six planning proposals were called in for decision by the Secretary of State, and 625 planning 290 appeals were recovered for decision by him in 1985. My hon. Friend will know that lesser planning appeals are dealt with by a corps of inspectors.
§ Sir Dudley SmithIs my hon. Friend aware that there is deep unease in some quarters that his Department is all too readily rubber-stamping the decisions of his regional officials, often in environmentally sensitive cases? Could there not be a better system of double checking where sensitive environmental issues arise?
§ Mr. TraceyI assure my hon. Friend that we are very sensitive in the Department to environmental issues. As he will know, we have recently called in one very sensitive issue in his constituency.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursIs it not true that the only place in Britain where a house can be built without planning permission is in the enterprise zone in Workington? Is that not an abuse of enterprise zones, and why are regional officials not active in preventing further development from taking place? Is the hon. Gentleman not aware that a housing estate is being built in the Workington enterprise zone, and does he intend to intervene to stop it?
§ Mr. TraceyEnterprise zones were set up with the objective of creating enterprise. The boundaries were agreed by the local authorities. Do I take it that the hon. Gentleman is anti-enterprise, like the rest of the Labour party?