§ Sir Dudley SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average current period taken for the consideration of planning appeals; and what assessment he has made of the manpower levels of the Planning Inspectorate. [4119]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordResponsibility for the provision of information on performance on the processing of planning appeals has been delegated to the Planning Inspectorate under its chief executive Mr. Chris Shepley. The agency is therefore responding to the question.
389WLetter from J. Greenfield to Sir Dudley Smith, dated 15 November 1996:
The Secretary of State for the Environment has asked me to reply to your Question about the time taken to process planning appeals and the assessment of manpower levels in the Inspectorate.Inspectors determine planning appeals by one of three procedures: written representations; hearing; and public inquiry. The time in weeks to determine 80 per cent of appeals by each procedure for the period 1 April to 30 September 1996 is shown in the table below:
Procedure Time to determine 80 per cent. of appeals (weeks) Written representations 25 Hearing 46 Public inquiry 56 The agency has been set the target of achieving a significant improvement in performance handling planning appeals over the three years ending in March 1999. To achieve the level of performance required and keep abreast of the agency's other work, 33 inspectors were recruited in 1995 and a further 31 this year.