Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of trends in the length of time for planning inspectors to be assigned to individual cases.

The Planning Inspectorate is an Arm’s Length Government Body with responsibility for allocation of resources, prioritisation and overall operational performance.

Ministers regularly meet with the Planning Inspectorate and are taking an active interest in all aspects of operational performance at the agency. Further discussions will continue on how to reduce the time taken for decisions.