HL Deb 16 December 2004 vol 667 cc96-8WS
The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)

My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Government set out their programme for the reform of the planning system in England in Sustainable Communities: Delivering through Planning (July 2002). The principle aims of reform are to produce a faster, fairer system that allows for greater public involvement. The legislative changes required, including those for the reform the development plan system, were enacted in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

This is against a background of a continued rise in planning applications submitted to local authorities as a result of economic growth. As the number of planning applications has increased, so has the number of planning appeals submitted to the Planning Inspectorate—indeed, the percentage rise in the number of appeals received is greater than the corresponding percentage increase in applications (because refusal rates are also rising). The number of appeals received by the Planning Inspectorate has increased by over 50 per cent in the past three years. This increase coupled with the doubling of the number of inspectors required to carry out inquiries into local plans this year has resulted in a deterioration in the Planning Inspectorate's overall performance in the amount of time taken to determine planning appeals.

To restore performance, I have made available an extra £1 million this year to fund taking on additional inspectors and providing them with the support they need. I am looking carefully at resource needs next year and will provide extra resources if necessary. The inspectorate has formed a task force dedicated to clearing the backlog of appeals and is looking to see significant progress by next spring.

I want sustained improvement. The inspectorate is committed to boosting productivity and delivering a more effective service to its customers. In order to achieve this, the inspectorate has set up an independently chaired Productivity Board. The inspectorate is also restructuring itself to give greater focus to operational delivery and improved services to its customers. The restructuring of the inspectorate is expected to be completed in March 2005.

I also intend to extend the period for submitting planning appeals from three to six months, which will have the effect of reversing the change which was introduced in September last year. When these changes were introduced, it was anticipated that the reduction in the appeal period would give greater certainty to all parties as to whether or not an appeal was to be lodged. However, there has been widespread criticism that the period of three months is insufficient for negotiations between the prospective appellant and the LPA. There is a strong perception that the reduction in the appeal period has led to applicants submitting appeals without first making any attempt to negotiate an amended application with the LPA and that this may have contributed to the rise in appeal numbers. There is a strong lobby from the planning community and from developers alike that the period in which to appeal should be restored to six months in order to allow longer to negotiate following a refusal. I am persuaded by these arguments. The change will require an amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 to reverse the effect of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (England) (Amendment) Order 2003 (SI 2003/2047). I propose to lay the necessary order before the Christmas Recess. It will come into effect from mid-January.

This will restore the opportunity for local planning authorities and appellants to enter into post-decision negotiations and thus avoid unnecessary appeals.

Given the current pressures on the Planning Inspectorate, I intend to delay the introduction of dual jurisdiction. The powers for this are contained in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act and will apply where an applicant appeals to the Secretary of State on the grounds that the LPA has not determined a planning application within the prescribed eight-week period. Under dual jurisdiction the LPA will have an additional period of time to issue its decision, even though an appeal has been lodged. While it is anticipated that this initiative will eventually lead to a reduction in the appeal workload, the time is not right to make this change with the present backlog of appeals.

I am also taking the opportunity to extend the statutory period for local authorities to determine major applications from eight to 13 weeks. The present arrangements allow for parties to appeal after eight weeks where the LPA has not issued a decision. This conflicts with the period of 13 weeks which is given under best value targets to determine major applications. This change will bring greater clarity to the appeal system and give LPAs significantly longer to determine major applications. This should also help to reduce the number of appeals against major applications.

This package of measures will assist in tackling the backlog of appeals in the Planning Inspectorate and demonstrates the Government's commitment to providing a speedier, more responsive planning system which will support the right development in the right place and contribute to sustainable communities.