§ Mr. Jim Spicerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average length of time between the receipt of an inspector's report by his Department and the issue of a decision by him in those matters not delegated to inspectors for their determination (a) on appeals under section 36 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, (b) on appeals under section 35 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, (c) on appeals under section 88 of the Town and Country Planning Act 242W 1971 and (d) on determinations under section 29 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 as amended by section 31 and schedule 3 to the Countryside Act 1968.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw:In the case of appeals under section 36 of the 1971 Act the average length of time between the receipt of an inspector's report by the Department and the issue of a decision is nine weeks for cases handled by inquiry and eight weeks for cases dealt with by written representations. Corresponding information cannot readily be made available for the other classes of case.
§ Mr. Jim Spicerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether it remains the policy of his Department to speed up the determination of appeals and the issue of decisions falling to be determined either by him or his Department.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw:Yes. It remains our policy to take all practicable steps to speed up the issue of properly considered decisions.
§ Mr. Jim Spicerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what average improvement has been achieved in the length of time taken from the date of hearing or close of representations to the date of issue of determination in the following matters referred to his Department since 1 April 1979 in appeals determined or decisions given by the Secretary of State for the Environment himself (a) under section 36 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, (b) under section 35 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, (c) under section 88 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (as amended) and (d) under section 29 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 as amended by section 31 and schedule 3 part II paragraph 4(4) of the Countryside Act 1968.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw:Complete information in the form requested cannot readily be made available. However, the following are the latest relevant figures for appeals under section 36 of the 1971 Act. In cases subject to public inquiry the average time between start of the inquiry and issue of decision by the Department is currently 15 weeks compared with 18 weeks in April 1979. In cases handled by written representations, the average time between the inspector's site visit and the issue of the decision is currently 12 weeks compared with 16 weeks in April 1979.
§ Mr. Jim Spicerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what average improvement has been achieved in the length of time taken from the date of hearing or close of representations to the date of issue of determination in the following matters referred to his Department since 1 April 1979 in appeals delegated to inspectors of the Department for determination (a) under section 36 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 and (b) under section 88 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw:Information in the form requested is available only for section 36 appeals. Although there have been substatial reductions in the average total times for dealing with such appeals, there has been no reduction since April 1979 in the time taken for this particular stage in their handling.