§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for pollution prevention and control permits were received by the Environment Agency in each year from 1996 to date; what the average time taken to determine applications was in each such year; and if she will make a statement. [129350]
§ Margaret BeckettThe following table gives the number of permit applications made to the Environment Agency since 2000 and the average time taken for them to be issued. No applications were received before that date because the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 ('the PPC Regulations') were not then in force.
Permit applications made to the environment agency Calendar year Number of applications
received
Number of permits issued
Average time to determine permits
issued in year1
(months)
2000 36 0 n/a 2001 285 54 26.4 2002 167 166 10.3 2003 183 141 12.5 Total 671 361 1 Total time from receipt until permit issue. No allowance has been made for periods waiting for further information required by Schedule 4 Notices. 2 The 2001 data is not representative because it shows only permits issued in 2001 when the regime was first introduced. There has been a slight increase to the average determination time in 2003. The process of PPC is complex, and applications have often lacked necessary information which can create substantial delays if further information is sought from the applicant. In such cases a notice is issued to the operator by the regulator and the determination of the application is effectively suspended until such time as further information is received.
The Environment Agency is aiming to reduce delays to permitting; measures include centrally managed "Strategic Permitting Groups" that have been established to focus resources on the effective determination of applications, and the reviewing and simplifying of the regulatory tools that are used to determine applications.