As mentioned in the business plan on page 3, 2001-2002 is the last year of our 3-year deal on funding, shown below. The corporate plan process extends 2 years beyond the indicative figures for 2001-2002.

	1999-2000	2000-2001	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004
Running costs	£33,383,000	£33,133,000	£32,383,000	Not yet known	Not yet known
Capital	£1,585,000	£1,284,000	£784,000	Not yet known	Not yet known

At this stage we have yet to agree financial provision with DETR for the later years of the corporate plan. We are very much aware that we will be competing with other agencies for funding and that we will need to continue to maximise our efficiency savings.

Work forecasts

Planning appeals - England

In 2001-2002 the 80% timeliness targets will be 16, 22 and 30 weeks respectively for appeals decided by written representations, hearings or inquiries. The handling time targets for 2002-03 onwards have yet to be decided by Ministers. Our intake forecast is 13,500 appeals.

Planning appeals - Wales

The timeliness targets for written representations, hearings and inquiries for 2001-2002 will match those in England.

Intake is expected to remain steady at 750 appeals each year, around the same level as the forecast for 2000-2001.

Development Plans

DETR's target is to achieve 95% coverage of adopted development plans in England by March 2002, with 100% being achieved in the longer term. Plans must be reviewed regularly and kept up-to-date, and Inspectors will continue to hold inquiries into alterations and modifications of plans. The target set in Planning Guidance (Wales) Unitary Development Plans is that all local planning authorities in Wales should have an adopted unitary development plan in place by the end of the year 2000.

We will continue to hold regular surveys of local authority intentions, to ensure that sufficient numbers of trained and experienced Inspectors are available for this complex and demanding work, and will continue to assign qualified Planning Assistants to provide support with professional tasks. On the basis of survey responses, we expect demand to remain reasonably steady at about 40 inquiries per year, although there remains a possibility of an increase in response to Departmental initiatives.

Enforcement notice appeals - England

Intake for 2001-2002 is expected to be about 3,400. Our internal targets will be reviewed in light of new procedures.

Enforcement notice appeals - Wales

The anticipated intake is expected to remain steady at around 180 appeals in 2001-2002. The internal targets for handling enforcement appeals will be 35 weeks for written representations and 46 weeks for both hearings and inquiries.

Advertisement appeals

The numbers of appeals are expected to increase slightly to 2,400 in England, but remain steady in Wales at around 100.

Possible changes to casework

The above forecasts assume that there will be no significant change in the factors influencing the type or volume of our work. It is too early to assess the implications of the quinquennial review 2000, or the Human Rights Act, which comes into force on 1 October 2000. The National Assembly is already bound by the European Convention on Human Rights by virtue of Section 107 of the Government of Wales Act 1998.

Efficiency plan benefits

We will continue to strive towards our target of delivering 3% efficiency savings throughout the plan period. The measures already in place will carry on from the previous year. These include taking on additional work without additional staff resources, using our resources more efficiently, looking for ways to streamline our working practices and improving our electronic communication.

Modernising Government

We will continue to implement the targets set in the Modernising Government Action Plan, and our Information Systems Strategy (see below) will play an important part in delivering those targets. The work already begun on the Civil Service Reform agenda will be carried on in conjunction with our IIP and diversity initiatives.

Information Systems (IS) Strategy

Our IS Strategy covers the corporate plan period, and is supported by a vision, that

By the year 2003, all staff will have direct access to all the relevant, accurate, timely information, to allow them to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently, through a single workstation at any location, that will provide user-friendly access to all Inspectorate systems and connections to all customers, both internal and external.

This will include, by the year 2005, the capability for all our services to be transacted electronically on demand by the public, local authorities, businesses and other Government agencies directly from their own locations.

We are currently developing an Internet based system for dealing with planning casework including applications and appeals. The aim of this system would be to provide links between local planning authorities, Government Offices and the Inspectorate and would affect the corporate plan years, 2001-2002 to 2003-2004.

Other projects, which are currently being assessed, include the introduction of a new computerised scheduling system for assigning casework to Inspectors, which will replace the current manual system. The development of a `one stop shop' information system for human resources will allow staff to view their own records and amend authorised information themselves.