§ 101. Mr. Anthony CoombsTo ask the Attorney-General what is the current number of cases before the Land Registry Office awaiting processing; what is the average waiting time; and what action he proposes to take to reduce this backlog.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe total number of cases held at the Land Registry at various stages of processing is 1,168,052.
The average time taken to complete an application is 16 weeks. Dealings with the whole of the land in a title, which represent 74 per cent. of the cases received, are completed in an average of nine weeks.
In addition to the recruitment and training of over 2,000 staff since April 1988, new work initiatives to improve productivity have been introduced. The measures are expected to reduce the backlog, provided that the volume of applications does not rise substantially.