Planning inspector hiring push will drive through local plans
The Planning Inspectorate has launched one of its largest-ever recruitment drives for local plan inspectors. It comes as the new local plan making process at the end of this year, which aims to cut the time for local plans to be examined down to 5 months.
More inspectors will speed up decision-making in national government, with the consequence of taking council planners – responsible for assisting the drafting of local plans and assessing planning applications – away from local government.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The new local plan making process goes live after 31 December 2026, and so councils are rushing to submit plans for review under the current system. It is therefore welcomed news to see the government continue its commitment to enabling planning reform with a hiring push on local plan assessors in order to drive through comprehensive local plan coverage.”
Local plans are produced by local planning authorities (LPAs) and have tended to take seven years to produce. However, the government has recently restated a commitment from the previous government to cut the timeframe down to 30 months, while also
Only around one third of LPAs have up-to-date adopted local plan, meaning many will find themselves submitting local plans under the new system which alongside a shorter submission timeframe, implements a three-gateway system with clear checkpoints, a digital-first requirement with standardised data formats and user-friendly digital tools
Rico Wojtulewicz, director of policy and market insight at the NFB, said: “Through the NPPF consultation, the Government has an opportunity to make planning more efficient by bringing us closer to a proportionate and rules-based system, therefore reducing the unnecessary workload planners face. This will be vital if local authority planners move from planning departments and into local plan assessment because we already have a shortage of planners, particularly experienced ones.
“We also expect most councils to miss the December deadline and therefore submit under the new format. This will support progress toward a rules-based planning process because it will increase the availability of data to applicants and decision makers, therefore speeding up decisions.”