Planning inspector hiring push will drive through local plans: NFB

​​​​​​​The Government has recently restated the previous government's commitment to reduce the timeframe to 30 months

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, set to begin at the end of this year, aims to cut the time for local plans to be examined to five months.

More inspectors will speed up decision-making in the national government, with the consequence of taking council planners, who are responsible for assisting with 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 welcome 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 typically take seven years to complete. However, the Government has recently restated the previous government's commitment to reduce the timeframe to 30 months.

Only around one-third of LPAs have an 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.