§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he will take steps to ascertain the number of notices served under Sections 101 and 115 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 every year; and whether he is satisfied with the efficacy of the procedures laid down under these sections for the protection of listed and other buildings neglected by their owners;
(2) whether he has analysed in any year the decisions to grant consent to demolish listed buildings taken by him according to the factors which led to his decision; and, if so, in how many cases in each of the last five years the state of repair of the building was the principal reason for his decision;
65W(3) how many representations he has received from owners of listed buildings in relation to urgent repair works carried out under Section 101 of the Town and Country Planning Act in each year since 1974; and what was his decision upon them;
(4) how many directions under Section 101(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 he has made in each year since 1974;
(5) how many notices he has served under Sections 101 and 115 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 in each of the last five years; and of these how many were served on local authorities;
(6) how many compulsory purchase orders have been applied for and confirmed under Section 114 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 in each of the last five years; and how many minimum compensation directions under Section 117 were confirmed; and what amounts in compensation were paid in total for the compulsory purchase of listed buildings in the same year.
§ Mr. ShoreNot all of the information requested by the hon. Member is readily available. Local authorities do not have to notify me of notices served by them under Sections 101 and 115 of the Town and Country Planning Act and I should not be justified in asking them to devote resources to doing so. No analysis as outlined by the hon. Member of the listed building consent decisions taken by me has been made. Information regarding minimum compensation directions and the total sums spent on compulsory purchase of listed buildings is also not available.
66WThe available information is:
(a) Directions given under section 101(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971:
1974 0 1975 1 1976 4 1977 4 Others are under consideration.
(b) Repairs to listed buildings under section 101 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971: representations received from owners against recovery of costs:
Secretary of State's decision Representations upheld Dismissed Decisions pending 1974 — — — 1975 2* 1 — 1976 — — — 1977 — 1 4 1978 — — 1 * In one of these cases the representations were partially upheld: the sum the owner was required to pay was reduced. (c) Compulsory Purchase Orders made under section 114 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971:
Submitted Withdrawn Decided 1973 2 2 — 1974 3 1 2 (confirmed) 1975 3 1 2 (confirmed) 1976 5 2 2 (1 in abeyance) 1977 3 2 — (1 in abeyance) I have served no notices under Sections 101 and 115 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971. The service of such notices is intended to be and is normally a matter for local authorities and I would act only where a building was of outstanding national importance.