Planning appeals - incomplete answer to previous request 1043161

Summary

The requester sought statistics on planning appeals determined by hearing for 2018 and 2019, including processing times, after a previous response only covered written considerations. The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture provided data for 2017, 2018, and 2019 regarding the number of appeals and average days to inspector reports, but could not provide specific timescales to the Minister's decision due to data recording limitations.

Key Facts

• The request was a follow-up to an incomplete response from November 2019 regarding planning appeal timelines.
• Data was provided for calendar years 2017, 2018, and 2019 for appeals determined by hearing.
• The authority could not collate the specific time from the Inspector's report to the Minister's decision as it is not recorded in a readily collatable format.
• Instead of the specific Ministerial decision time, the average days from the Inspector's report to the issue of the decision were provided.
• The response was issued on 24 June 2020 by the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.

Data Disclosed

• 2017: 45 appeals, 78 days to inspector report, 37 days to decision
• 2018: 35 appeals, 97 days to inspector report, 34 days to decision
• 2019: 49 appeals, 124 days to inspector report, 39 days to decision
• Request received: 2020-06-01
• Response date: 2020-06-24
• Case ID: 1311609
• Previous request date: 12 November 2019
• Previous response date: 5 December 2019

Exemptions Cited

• Section 8(3)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (no requirement to undertake substantial compilation or collation of information)

Original Request

On 12 th November 2019 I initiated a request regarding length of time taken for appeals both those based on appeal hearing and separately those based on written consideration. On 5th December 2019 I received back information that only supplied details with regard to appeals based on written consideration. This request is therefore to fulfill the original request ie 1 the number of appeals in 2018 (calendar year) based on appeal hearing 2 the average length of time taken to determine appeals based on appeal hearing from date of receipt of the appeal to date of Inspector's report being received and date of Minister's decision on appeals 3 the number of appeals in 2019 (calendar year based on appeal hearing 4 the average length of time taken to determine appeals based on appeal hearing from date of receipt of teh appeal to date of Inspector's report being received and date of Minister's decision on appeals

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator Corporate Services Directorate Thie Slieau Whallian, Foxdale Road, St John’s, Isle of Man, IM4 3AS Tel no (01624) 685854 Fax no (01624 685851 Email: defa@gov.im www.gov.im

Our ref: 1311609 24th June 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 1st June 2020 and which states:

"On 12th November 2019 I initiated a request regarding length of time taken for appeals both those based on appeal hearing and separately those based on written consideration. On 5th December 2019 I received back information that only supplied details with regard to appeals based on written consideration. This request is therefore to fulfill the original request ie 1 the number of appeals in 2018 (calendar year) based on appeal hearing 2 the average length of time taken to determine appeals based on appeal hearing from date of receipt of the appeal to date of Inspector's report being received and date of Minister's decision on appeals 3 the number of appeals in 2019 (calendar year) based on appeal hearing 4 the average length of time taken to determine appeals based on appeal hearing from date of receipt of the appeal to date of Inspector's report being received and date of Minister's decision on appeals"

Our response to your request is as follows: I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. Calendar year No of appeals determined as a Hearing Average number of days from receipt of appeal to receipt of inspector report Average number of days from inspector report to issue of decision 2017 45 78 37 2018 35 97 34 2019 49 124 39 Notes.

1. We have included 2017 data in this response as your original request in November 2019 also asked for this.
2. Although you asked for timescale from Inspector's report being received to Minister's decision, we do not record the date of Ministerial decision in such a way that would allow it to be collated readily. It is only recorded on the individual appeals. As section 8(3)(c) of the Act does not require the Department to undertake substantial compilation or collation of information we are unable to provide precisely this information.
3. We have however provided the average number of days from inspector report to issue of the decision and we hope this is sufficient for your needs. Please quote the reference number 1311609 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely