Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the average length of time is applicants have had to wait since 1 January 2020 to have an appeal heard (a) against a planning authority's decision against development of more than one home and (b) planning enforcement decisions by a planning authority.

The average time applicants have to wait to have an appeal heard is as follows:

a) For appeals against a planning authority's decision against development of more than one home, the average time is 29 weeks

b) For appeals against planning enforcement decisions by a planning authority, the average time is 43 weeks.

The Planning Inspectorate maintains its commitment to simplifying the planning appeal process by making best use of digital systems to support effective service delivery. The Inspectorate has also developed a cyclical Inspector recruitment process which is intended to support the recovery of Inspector resource numbers and consequently improve wait times for customers.