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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of average appeal handling times for appeals considered by the Planning Inspectorate; what steps he plans to take to reduce appeal handling times; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the Hon Member to the monthly statistics published here. The Secretary of State has also recently written to a number of authorities regarding planning performance. Copies of these letters can be found on gov.uk.