§ Mr. Rossiasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many housing action areas he has approved within the statutory 28-day period; how many he has taken longer than the statutory period to approve; and how many weeks on average he takes to acknowledge receipt of a housing action area declaration report.
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§ Mr. FreesonUp to 31st March last, in 136 cases local authorities were notified within the 28–day period that my right hon. Friend did not intend to intervene. In a further 50 cases more time was requested for consideration. The average time taken from the date of the dispatch of documents by a local authority to the date of acknowledgement by my right hon. Friend was 12 days.