House building targets threatened by 'drastic shortage' of planning officers

House building targets threatened by 'drastic shortage' of planning officers England's economy is threatened with "paralysis" unless the Government sorts out chronic problems with the planning system, a committee of MPs said today. Flagship proposals to build three million new homes by 2020 face significant risk because the planning system "cannot cope", the MPs said. And they added that a failure to recruit more planners and give existing ones more training would hinder delivery of the Government's environmental priorities. The Commons Communities and Local Government Committee issued the damning verdict in its report Planning Matters - Labour Shortages And Skills Gaps. In it, the 11-member committee hit out at ministers for their failure to deal with a problem that was first identified in the late 1990s. The MPs said:... [read full story]