§ Dr. BlackburnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what performance targets he has set for the Planning Inspectorate agency for the financial year 1993–94.
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§ Sir George YoungThe key objectives for the agency in 1993–94 remain to preserve the impartiality and quality of the inspectorate's work while seeking further to improve efficiency. I have set the following further key targets for the agency's work in England:
Timeliness:
- (a) 80 per cent. of planning appeals by written representations to be decided within 19 weeks;
- (b) To provide an inspector for local plan inquiries on request within 26 weeks of the end of the objection period;
Financial:
- (a) Unit costs of planning appeals decided by written representations not to exceed £690;
- (b) Recover 90 per cent. of receipts due within eight weeks of invoice date;
Efficiency:
- Generate a 3 per cent. efficiency improvement in running costs, as compared with 1992–93;
Quality:
- High Court Appeals and/or other justified complaints allowed against inspector's decisions not to exceed 1 per cent. of intake;
Volume:
- To determine 19,000 appeals, subject to intake not declining;
Information and Guidance:
- To complete a second customer survey by 31 December 1993.
These and other performance targets for the agency will be included in its business plan for 1993–94 which will be published shortly.
Separate targets for the agency's work in Wales are being announced today by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales.