HC Deb 08 February 1984 vol 53 c654W
39. Mr. Jessel

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the present system for the handling of planning applications.

Mr. Macfarlane

There has been a marked improvement overall in the time taken to handle planning applications in the past three years, but not all local authorities are equally efficient in their operation of the system. I am pressing the laggards to improve their performance.