§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will now appoint a departmental equal opportunities officer with responsibility for co-ordinating the Civil Service policy of non-discrimination within his Department.
§ Mr. RidleySuch an officer was designated for my Department in November 1984.
Determined by Secretary of State Determined by Inspectors Inquiries Written Representations Inquiries Written Representations Informal Hearings 1979 49 38 27 23 — 1980 44 37 27 26 — 1981 44 32 26 18 — 1982 46 33 27 17 — 1983 48 39 26 19 20 1984 53 42 28 22 25 Notes:
1 Median, and not average times are used in the Department's appeal statistics.
2 Times are in weeks.
3 Informal hearings were introduced in July 1983.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans and proposals he has for speeding up the time taken to determine planning appeals.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneAppeals intake is now some 20 per cent, above 1983 levels. I nevertheless intend to cut processing times by appointing more planning inspectors and making the most effective use of them, accelerating procedures and speeding up the decision-making process.