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Updated Apr 1, 2025

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Planning and Infrastructure Bill published

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been introduced to the House of Commons for consideration by both Houses of Parliament. The Bill aims to reform the planning system in order to speed up and streamline the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure, such as clean energy projects.

The Bill is packed full of proposed amendments to the Planning system as well as new provisions that could see significant change.

We've picked out some of the more significant proposals in the Bill and summarised them in this document. The majority of these proposals apply to England, though some do extend to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Background

The Government is keen to see economic growth and sees planning and construction as a key part of that, especially as a way of meeting their housing targets and desire for more critical infrastructure (in particular in transport and energy). Development in these areas has, the Government claims, been held back by the planning regime.

The main aim of the Bill therefore is to address the perceived issues in the planning system in order to unlock more development and kickstart economic growth. 

It's a large Bill, sitting at 167 pages at the time of first publication, and contains many proposed amendments. The information below provides an overview of some of these amendments.

Infrastructure

Part 1 of the Bill takes aim at infrastructure planning, in particular the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime as well as energy and transport infrastructure.

The NSIP proposals aim to: 

  • require National Policy Statements to be reviewed and updated every five years;
  • allow the Secretary of State to disapply the requirement for development consent for certain NSIPs in limited circumstances. A direction to disapply the requirements must be requested;
  • ease the consultation requirements in the pre-application stage by removing the requirement to consult those who, because of the proposed development, would or might be entitled to make a relevant claim;
  • change the process for a judicial review of development consent decisions. Those wanting to challenge a decision only have six weeks to do so. If a challenge is made, an oral hearing will take place at the High Court and the Court has the right to dismiss the application for judicial review as "totally without merit". If that happens, there is no right of appeal and the decision is final. If the case is rejected but is not labelled as "totally without merit" then the claimant can appeal the decision regarding the judicial appeal.

As regards energy and transport infrastructure, the Bill seeks to:

  • allow changes in energy licences and other documents to improve the process for managing connections to the transmission or distribution system (in Britain only);
  • introduce regulation-making powers as regards consents for generating stations and overhead lines in Scotland. This could include provisions regarding pre-application requirements;
  • require the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority to create and implement a long duration energy storage (LDES) cap and floor scheme. The "cap" is the assessed revenue threshold above which developers will pay back some or all revenues, and the "floor" is the minimum assessed revenue level, below which the National Energy System Operator will compensate the LDES operator;
  • create financial benefits for home owners near new electricity transmission infrastructure, such as new electricity pylons. This benefit will be delivered by electricity suppliers;
  • allow offshore wind farms 27 months (increased from 18 months) to transfer transmission assets that they build to a third-party offshore transmission owner;
  • allow forestry authorities to bring forward proposals for renewable energy sources from within and across forestry land, subject to conditions. The authority will then be allowed to sell that energy;
  • make new regulations for, and in connection with, the fees charged by public authorities in relation to highways services;
  • remove the requirement that certain transport related orders and schemes must be made by statutory instrument in England and Wales;
  • introduce a right to temporarily possess or occupy land in connection to transport projects;
  • allow electric vehicle charge point operators in England to install public charge points without the need for a street works licence as long as a street works permit has been obtained.

Planning

The Bill also proposes several changes to the planning regime in England via amendments contained in Part 2. Some of those changes include: 

  • allowing local planning authorities to set their own planning fees and charges so local variations in costs of running planning application services can be accounted for;
  • the power to make regulations concerning the provision of training of local planning authority members, including committees and sub-committees;
  • the power to make regulations setting out which planning functions should be delegated to officers for a decision and which should go to a committee or sub-committee. This is to try and ensure greater consistency across England regarding who is responsible for making planning decisions;
  • a requirement on strategic planning authorities to create a spatial development strategy which will form part of the overarching development plan for an area. These amendments include extensive textural additions to law to set out how the strategies are to be made, consulted on and adapted.

Nature recovery

Part 3 of the Bill concerns development and nature recovery in England. The Government has indicated that it feels nature could be a blockage or hindrance to development and has proposed a new structure for managing nature recovery when development takes place:

  • Environmental Delivery Plans (EDP) will be drafted by Natural England. They must set out the conservation measures that will be taken to address the impact of certain types of development;
  • the provisions in this Part set out what an EDP must contain. In particular it has to set out the specific geographic areas in England it applies to as well as the types of development it covers;
  • the EDP must identify and set out information on environmental features likely to be affected, the relevant environmental impact of the development and the conservation measures to be used in relation to certain environmental features such as a protected site;
  • the conservation measures must be funded, so a nature restoration levy will be established and paid by developers, and the amount of the levy will reflect how much the relevant measures will cost;
  • further provisions set out how the EDP is to be prepared and the consultation requirements on a draft EDP;
  • Natural England will have to report on the effectiveness of the EDP;
  • if a developer wants to pay the nature restoration levy in order to discharge other environmental obligations, it can apply to do so to Natural England. If the application is accepted, payment of the levy will mean the environmental impact of development on a protected feature will be disregarded as long as the feature is covered in the EDP. Any features not covered in the EDP cannot be disregarded. This can also mean habitats and protected species covered by the EDP can be disturbed as if a licence had been granted;
  • the nature restoration levy must then be used on conservation measures as well as covering administrative costs that arise. Further detail on this can be set out in regulations.

Development corporations

As regards development corporations, the Bill proposes amendments to:

  • provide more clarity and flexibility for development corporations in terms of the variety, extent and types of areas they can cover;
  • ensure development corporations consider sustainable development, climate change and good design;
  • standardise the list of infrastructure that can be provided by all development corporation types. This includes allowing development corporations to develop heat network infrastructure.

Compulsory purchase orders

Finally, the Bill contains amendments aiming to alter how compulsory purchase orders work. In particular the amendments aim to:

  • allow statutory notices to be served via electronic communication;
  • simplify the information that must be included in newspaper notices regarding the making and confirmation of compulsory purchase orders;
  • allow acquiring authorities to confirm its own compulsory purchase order with modifications, as long as it does not affect a person's interest in land;
  • allow the earlier possession of land or property by acquiring authorities via the general vesting declaration procedure. So, once a compulsory purchase order is confirmed, instead of waiting at least three months to take possession, acquiring authorities can take possession under the general vesting declaration procedure after six weeks.

What others are saying

Following the publication of the Bill, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said it will "unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect bill payers”.

Dr Victoria Hills, chief executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) said "These proposals, many of which the RTPI has long campaigned for, have the potential to fundamentally change how we plan our communities, power our homes, commute to work, and take our kids to school. If implemented correctly, and with the measures taken to resource the planning system, they will shape the way the next generation interacts with the built environment.”

However, whilst Ben Goodwin, director of policy and public affairs at the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) welcomed the Bill, he has warned against diminishing environmental protections, saying “High-quality housing and infrastructure are both prerequisites for better living standards and outcomes. However, it is equally important that the planning reform needed to deliver the government's growth ambitions does not come at the expense of the natural environment.

“New housing and infrastructure must be delivered in sync with the natural environment, which is why the impact assessment regime in England should be protected and strengthened as part of the reforms."


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