§ Mr. Holtasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the longest time, shortest time and average time it takes for planning inspectors' reports to be determined after the appeal has been heard.
§ Mr. TraceyThe chief planning inspector's report for 1984 contains statistics for the handling of planning appeals made under section 36 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971. The time taken to reach and issue a decision after an inquiry or site visit by an inspector varies according to the procedure used to determine the appeal. Appeals may be "transferred" for decision by one of the170W Department's inspectors following a public inquiry or an informal hearing, or on the basis of written representations and a site visit. Or appeals may be "recovered" for decision by the Secretary of State—that is, by Ministers or by officials under the authority of Ministers —following a public inquiry or on the basis of written representations and a site visit. The following were the median times for each type of procedure in 1984:
Transferred section 36 appeals
(i) Written representations (82–2 per cent. of all appeals decided)—site visit to decision letter=four weeks.(ii) Inquiry cases (11.1 per cent.)—inquiry to decision letter=five weeks.(iii) Informal hearings (2.6 per cent.)—hearing to decision letter=four weeks.Recovered section 36 appeals
(i) Written representations (1.9 per cent.)—site visit to receipt of case in decision branch=four weeks.—receipt in decision branch to decision letter=nine weeks.(ii) inquiry cases (2.2 per cent.)—inquiry to receipt of case in decision branch=nine weeks.—receipt in decision branch to decision letter=12 weeks.Depending on the complexity of the individual case, the longest and shortest times taken at the various stages vary widely around the median time for each procedure. Data in the form requested by my hon. Friend are not readily available.
§ Mr. Thurnhamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning appeals were decided between 1 September 1981 and 1 September 1985; and in how many cases the applicants were successful.
§ Mr. TraceyInformation on planning appeal statistics is published quarterly.
The total number of appeals decided and the number of those allowed between 1 October 1981 and the end of September 1985 can be broken down as follows:
Section 36 appeals Number decided Number allowed October 1981 to September 1982 13,283 4,013 October 1982 to September 1983 11,320 3,706 October 1983 to September 1984 11,429 3,714 October 1984 to September 1985 14,150 5,041
§ Mr. Thurnhamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date he began his consideration of the inspector's report on the planning appeal at Birtenshaw farm, Bolton; and on what date he reached a decision.
§ Mr. TraceyConsideration of the inspector's report began on 14 March and the decision was issued on 18 July 1985.
§ Mr. Thurnhamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment in how many planning appeal cases between 1 September 1981 and 1 September 1985 he did not accept the inspector's report.
§ Mr. TraceyIn the calendar years 1981–84,83 appeals under section 36 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 were decided contrary to inspectors' recommendations. There were 14 such decisions in the first six months of 1985.