The Chancellor is expected to announce sweeping reforms that will give Parliament the authority to approve critical energy schemes and better protect infrastructure projects from judicial review.
The proposed changes – on which a policy note is published today – are intended to reinforce the UK’s energy security, drive down consumer bills and support the government’s central mission of economic growth.
The headline proposal would allow Parliament to designate and approve the most important clean energy projects as being of ‘Critical National Importance’ (CNI), reducing the exposure from judicial review on all but human rights grounds. This would help deliver the Government’s commitment to accelerate new infrastructure development and drive growth, including much-needed projects like new power stations and offshore wind farms.
For all other nationally significant infrastructure – including transport and water projects – the government will introduce a fixed legal challenge window, at the end of which the planning consent could be updated to address any legitimate issues.
This would reduce the potential grounds for judicial review – and where any continue to be pressed, courts would be able to make use of existing reforms to deny permission where it was clear the claim was without merit. The law would also be changed to require the courts to refuse permission for a judicial review to proceed on any issues not brought up during the consenting period or in the challenge window – meaning that developers can then proceed with full confidence that no successive spurious challenges can be raised at a later stage.
Taken together the reforms are set to build on protections already passed into law through the Planning and Infrastructure Act, as the government seeks to end the practice of serial meritless legal challenges clogging up the courts. Of 167 Development Consent Order decisions made since 2008, just six were quashed following a challenge – with many more failed processes costing developers, taxpayers and the economy billions in delays and wasted time.
The new CNI route would apply exclusively to clean energy projects, reflecting the national urgency of the UK’s need to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster. All other major infrastructure projects would benefit from the fixed-window route.
The government is also expected to allow promoters of smaller energy projects to apply directly to the Planning Inspectorate, rather than having to go through local councils. This will support faster decision-making on important generation and transmission projects that all contribute to our country’s energy resilience.
A Treasury spokesperson said
For too long, vital infrastructure delivery has been delayed by judicial reviews of projects the country needs. The Chancellor won’t stand for it any longer and is bringing forward bold changes to support delivery.
She is clear that Parliament must take back control – to get Britain building the power plants, wind farms and grid connections that will bring bills down, strengthen our energy security, and deliver growth in every part of our country.