HC Deb 11 January 1977 vol 923 cc436-7W
Mr. David Price

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning appeals were received by his Department in each of the last 10 years; how many of these appeals were withdrawn in each year; and how many were decided.

Mr. Guy Barnett

Following is the information requested:

Year Number of appeals received Number of appeals withdrawn Total number of appeals decided
1967 10,090 2,673 8,098
1968 9,593 2,765 6,658
1969 8,212 2,788 6,192
1970 8,362 2,549 5,454
1971 9,818 2,788 5,516
1972 14,408 3,075 5,916
1973 18,326 3,487 10,882
1974 13,324 4,175 12,198
1975 11,690 4,235 11,486
1976 11,656 3,069 9,253

Mr. David Price

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning appeals were being processed by his Department on 31st December 1976; and how many of these appeals had waited longer than six months, 12 months, 18 months and two years, respectively, for his determination and decision.

Mr. Guy Barnett

8,935 planning appeals were being processed on 31st December 1976; the information sought in the second part of the question is not available in the form requested, but the average periods between receipt and decision taken by appeals decided in December 1976 were as follows52 weeks where the appeal was decided by the Secretary of State following a local inquiry (12 per cent. of cases). 36 weeks where the appeal was decided by the Secretary of State on written representations (9 per cent. of cases). 28 weeks where the appeal was decided by an Inspector following a local inquiry (16 per cent. of cases). 22 weeks where the appeal was decided by an inspector on written representations (63 per cent. of cases).