§ Mr. Gordon Campbellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what was the average time taken, in the two-year period 1966 and 1967, in deciding appeals against local planning decisions where inquiries were held, from the time the appeal was lodged to the announcement of the Secretary of State's decision; and in what percentage of cases that decision differed from the recommendation of the Reporter;
(2) how many appeals to him there have been in Scotland against local 401W planning decisions in 1965, 1966 and 1967; and how many of these have involved inquiries.
§ Mr. Ross:The numbers of planning appeals lodged with me, and the numbers of inquiries held, are shown in the following table. About 45 per cent. of the appeals were withdrawn, and about 5 per cent. dealt with by means of written submissions.
1965 1966 1967 Appeals … 383 302 341 Inquiries … 191 166 137 In the two years 1966 and 1967 the average time from lodging the appeal to the announcement of my decision was 45 weeks in the cases dealt with by inquiry. This average, however, was weighted by a number of cases in which action was suspended for long periods at the appellant's request while he negotiated with the local planning authority.
In these two years my decision differed from the Reporter's recommendation in about 5 per cent. of the cases decided.