Planning Applications: Timescale (Hansard, 3 November 1983)

§ Baroness Lane-Fox
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, there has been a steady and welcome improvement. The latest statistics for January-March this year show 70 per cent. of planning applications in England being determined in eight weeks as against 60 per cent. three years ago. This represents a considerable and sustained effort by most planning authorities.

§ Baroness Lane-Fox
My Lords. I thank my noble friend for that reply and for the information contained in it. Can my noble friend say how many of these applications refer to housing?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, they are not differentiated quite as much as no doubt my noble friend would wish, but I can tell her that, during the period to which I referred in my original Answer, for housing generally, 93,000 decisions were made in England and, of those, 40,000 were on householder developments and 17,500 on developments of new dwellings.

§ Baroness Birk
My Lords, will the Minister agree that, although speed is essential, the quality of decisions is equally important?—as in certain cases an authority may reject an application in eight weeks and, therefore, get a good mark for speed, whereas more extended negotiations with the applicant could result in an approved application and reduce the costs and the time involved in appeals.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, I would agree with the noble Baroness that the only good decision is the right decision. But I would take issue with her on the subject of speed, because I believe that that has to do with efficiency rather than quality. The credibility of the planning system depends on good decisions being reached quickly. Slow decisions are neither better nor worse.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, on this question of speed, can the noble Lord give the position with regard to appeals? Is he aware that at one stage there was considerable complaint that it took far too long for appeals to be heard because of the shortage of inspectors to hear them? Can he say whether there has been any recruitment of inspectors, and can he confirm that the average time taken for appeals to be heard has also shortened?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, yes, as far as I know there is a full complement of inspectors; but, as I am sure the noble Lord also knows, more and more appeals are being referred to inspectors. The department has introduced a system to help speed up planning appeals. In particular, we have issued a circular upon the subject. We have streamlined the internal procedures and we have introduced a computer to assist in the managment of case work and the collection of statistics. But we are by no means satisfied with the situation, and I do not think that this is a subject upon which one can ever be satisfied until every planning authority turns up 100 per cent. I do not see that happening—not within my lifetime, anyway. But I should like to assure the House that we are continuing to do everything we can to process these appeals speedily.

§ Lord Harmar-Nicholls
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that in this area of delay in granting applications, to which the computer will not be the answer, too many have a say in granting approvals and too many tiers of local government have to be gone through before you receive a practical reply and can get on with the job of building houses, factories, or anything else? Is my noble friend aware that for those reasons one hopes that the Government will proceed with removing at least one of the tiers of government in order to speed up the process?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, the tiers of government do not always affect the matter. For example, I notice that in the Isles of Scilly in the last six months they have improved from 89.8 per cent. of applications settled within eight weeks to 100 per cent. I do not think that that has anything at all to do with tiers of government.

§ Baroness Birk
My Lords, I am sorry that the Minister swept so broadly aside any argument for a more lengthy time for applications. Will he not agree that there are certain cases where, if the applicant can get together with the authority and the developer and there can be further negotiations, an approved application can then be arranged? Would he not accept that that surely is much better than a decision going to appeal and the whole process being started all over again, with the costs and time involved? Is the noble Lord aware that, as I made quite clear, I am not making a general case for it: I am saying that there are cases where flexibility ought to be encouraged?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
Yes, my Lords, I absolutely agree with the noble Baroness; and, of course, this is one of the points that was in the circular to which I referred.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, will the noble Lord ensure that his words "tiers of Government" are correctly spelt in the Official Report?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, I will give the House that assurance.

§ Baroness Lane-Fox
My Lords, referring to my supplementary question, can my noble friend say whether it is possible to let us know what proportion of the planning applications for housing are for special accommodation for disabled people?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords. in my reply to my noble friend's first supplementary question I said that the categories were not as well defined as she or I would like. But I have no reason to suppose that planning applications in these particular cases should take longer to deal with. If my noble friend or, indeed, any Member of your Lordships' House has any specific case to which they would like to bring my attention, I shall of course be delighted to take it up.