Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party). It was answered on Wednesday, 29 June 2005 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee.

Planning Law

Question: Is the Minister aware that delays in dealing with planning applications often occur because other Departments, which are consultees, do not respond? Indeed, they sometimes appear to forget about the documents or requests that have been sent to them until they are reminded of them. Are there plans at least for service level agreements between Departments? For example, if the Road Service were consulted by the Department of the Environment Planning Service, it would have to respond within a specified period, rather than leaving applications for a long time, as sometimes happens.

Answer: I am grateful for that comment, because one of the issues that we had to deal with when I was Minister with responsibility for planning was ensuring that all consultees responded within a certain period. Specifying that period would greatly assist the planning process, and the modernisation of that process takes those issues into account. The new process is far more transparent, and any member of the public will be able to check on progress to see who has been consulted. Delays caused by consultees have been an issue, and the Department is addressing it.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: NIGC c10-1
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons Grand Committees
Subjects: Administrative delays Job creation Northern Ireland Planning permission Planning Service