The Planning Inspectorate has launched a recruitment campaign to bolster its ranks with 20 new “decision makers and examiners” following a damning report earlier this year.

In February public spending watchdog the National Audit Office said staff shortages at the inspectorate meant the average time taken to determine a planning appeal had stretched from 30 weeks to 38 weeks between 2013/14 and last year, a situation it described as “unacceptable”.

The report – which covered the whole of the planning system, including council-based teams which have seen their resources dramatically reduced over the past decade – warned ministers that failings with the system needed to be addressed if the target of delivering 300,000 new homes was to be met.

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