Most of the recommendations of an independent review of the planning department have been put in place, according to the Environment Minister.

Out of 64 'key actions', 15 are yet to be implemented, three of which have been delayed.

The Environment Minister says that officers used the last three months of 2023 to build relationships with the industry.

"Additionally, a combined effort by Technical Support Officers and Planning Officers meant the teams were able to clear the backlog of applications awaiting validation.

The recruitment of more Technical Support Officers in Planning Services over the next couple of months will help to consolidate better performance in validation and registration.

While acknowledging the positives, I know a lot more still needs to be done, particularly to speed up the processing of applications. I have set an ambitious timescale for the transformation of Planning Services."

Just one application needed validation by the end of the year, following a peak of 269 in July 2023.

The update comes following an independent review of the islands planning services in May 2023.

That found the department to be 'seriously dysfunctional' and also uncovered that previous recommendations had been ignored.

The report, by former Chief Planner to the Scottish government Jim Mackinnon, gave 16 recommendations to Deputy Jonathan Renouf.

Jersey's planning processes have been under scrutiny again over recent weeks following the approval of the Les Sablons development in St Helier.

The 238-apartment and 103-room hotel build had been refused permission twice before the developer Le Masiuer took the government to court.