§ 55. Mr. Bulmerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is satisfied with the speed at which planning appeals are processed and determined within his Department.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe median time taken by the predominant category of appeals has fallen by more than a quarter since the Government came to office, and now stands at 16 weeks. This is a record.
Following the management consultant's report in the spring and last year's consultation paper, I announced on 14 July in a written reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Melton (Mr. Latham) a further range of reforms to the appeal system.—[Vol. 8, c. 359–60.] We are still working through these, and I hope that the performance will continue to improve.