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23. Because the court procedure is fairly lengthy, it is more informative to take a 5 year perspective. As shown in Table D1, the number of delegated decisions challenged in the Court of Session during 1998 was lower than in previous years. Up to the present, 2 of those cases fell within the category "won by challenger or not defended", and 2 remain before the Court.
24. Looking at the results for the 5 years as a whole, the number of successful challenges of delegated decisions continues to be around 3-6 cases per year, comfortably less than 1% of delegated decisions, which is our target limit.
Table D1: Court of Session challenges of delegated appeal decisions 1994-98
|
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
|
|
Number of delegated decisions challenged |
13 |
17 |
16 |
13 |
9 |
|
Number withdrawn or abandoned |
6 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
|
Number won by challenger or not defended |
3 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
|
Number where Reporter's decisions upheld |
4 |
4 |
10 |
5 |
3 |
|
Number remaining before the Court |
Nil |
1 |
Nil |
Nil |
2 |
25. The re-determination of a case at Broxden, Perth, dating from the previous year, gave rise to a petition for judicial review during re-consideration. That petition was subsequently withdrawn.
26. A total of 9 complaints were submitted to the Unit, half the number received in the previous year. They related to the handling of 8 planning appeals and one application for an award of expenses. The complaints addressed such issues as the conduct of Reporters at site inspection/inquiry; alleged procedural irregularities; the factual basis of the decision; failure to address certain issues in the determination; choice of inquiry venue; and delay in reaching a determination on an appeal. All complaints are carefully considered to see what lessons can be learned. Where criticisms are justified, we have sought to improve our practices by the production of revised guidance for Reporters and administrative staff. Finding inquiry venues with suitable access for disabled people is occasionally a problem. In some cases a balance has to be struck between using a venue that is not fully accessible or locating a public local inquiry at a considerable distance from the community, leading to access problems for numerous other potential participants. The Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman) has decided that a complaint against the Unit lodged in 1997 will not be formally investigated. No other complaints about the Unit remain before the Ombudsman.
27. A total of 129 claims for an award of expenses were submitted during the year. This is very similar to the total for the previous year. Once more, the majority of claims (93) were made by applicants/appellants against planning authorities, of which 17 (13%) were successful. Of the 22 claims made by planning authorities, 3 (13%) were successful, 2 of those being against the appellant and one against a third party. These success rates are lower than for the previous year. A new trend of claims by third parties has emerged. There were 14 claims of this type; 4 of these (26%) were successful, 2 being against an appellant, and 2 against a planning authority.
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