§ Mr. Ripponasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether there are any statistics available as to the time taken in granting detailed approvals for housing development; and whether any assessment has been made of the cost of delays.
§ Mr. John SilkinNo, but a new general development control statistical return will ask authorities to show how long they have taken in deciding applications for different types of development, including dwellings. Manpower will be more fruitfully used on minimising the time taken to handle cases than on generalised assessments.