Councillors have welcomed reform of Oxford City Council's embattled planning department.

The backlog of applications is said to be shrinking.

Meanwhile, letters seeking residents' feedback on planning applications are being simplified.

However, criticism has been levelled at the quality of the department's website and a perceived lack of publicity for planning proposals.

The new planning services business manager, Michael Crofton-Briggs, reported real progress when he presented the findings of a recent Audit Commission inspection to the council's North East Area Committee.

Mr Crofton-Briggs, who began the job in September after working for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, said half of Oxford's backlog of 400 applications was less than two months old. The proportion of stale cases had also been cut from 35 to 25 per cent.

He said: "There are only about 100 applications that, for various reasons, have been with the council for six months or more."

Inspectors had given the department a fair one star rating in 2000, and stated it was unlikely to improve. The one star rating was again awarded at a follow-up inspection earlier this year, but inspectors found "excellent prospects for improvement".

Mr Crofton-Briggs said he was "staggered" by the large amount of consultation offered by the council.

He said letters were being translated into better English to make them easier to understand.

He said e-mail and the Internet were being used to improve the service as part of the move towards "e-government".

However, Headington councillor Stephen Tall criticised the website.

He said: "It takes a huge amount of time to download."

Committee chairman Maureen Christian said that, to cut costs, applications were no longer advertised in the Oxford Times.