Planning Appeals (Hansard, 13 July 1982)

§ Mr. Giles Shaw

[pursuant to his reply, 6 July 1982, c. 98]: Yes. Over the past year both intake and output in the Planning Inspectorate have remained at very high levels; the number of decisions issued in the first quarter of 1982 was a record. High productivity has brought with it substantial improvements in speed. The median time taken to determine the 70 per cent. of appeals that inspectors decide by written representations is now 17 weeks—the lowest ever and six weeks less than the average when the Government took office.

These figures testify to the success of the measures that I outlined last July and to the continuing co-operation of all parties—local authorities and appellants—in speeding the handling of appeals. We have made considerable progress with the items under study last year and I would in particular highlight the following:

(i) better information for local planning authorities and appellants. We have issued an important new 334 circular—DOE circular 38/81, Welsh Office circular 57/81, on planning and enforcement appeals—with advice on ways of making appeals quicker, simpler, and less costly for all the parties concerned. This includes a target timetable for the majority of cases that proceed by written representations. The same advice and timetable will appear in a revised version of the handbook for appellants, now in hand. Both publications draw upon information and insights obtained in visits to a sample of authorities, appellants and agents;
(ii) informal hearings. We have successfully completed an experiment and our assessment will be announced soon;
(iii) express appeals. We have developed a simplified appeals procedure which we and the Welsh Office hope shortly to test in an experiment;
(iv) moves to get earlier inquiries. In areas where there are substantial backlogs of appeals awaiting inquiry we are contacting the local authorities concerned to try to find ways of overcoming the problem—in some cases special measures are already in hand. We plan to intensify our efforts over the coming year; and
(v) procedural reform in the inspectorate. We have already introduced a substantial number of procedural changes and more are in train, including an experiment in the earlier arrangement of site visits.

As part of our effort to improve public understanding of the appeals system, the chief planning inspector is today for the first time publishing an annual report, addressed jointly to the Secretaries of State for the Environment, Transport and Wales. This contains details of most of the developments that I have described, and of others affecting the Planning Inspectorate. This latest innovation is another expression of this Government's commitment to a speedy, efficient and open appeals system. I am placing copies in the Library of the House.