Episode 168:

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I am your host Maria Skoutari and this week we will be talking about the Planning & Infrastructure Bill. Todays episode meets PC3 of the Part 3 Criteria.

I very briefly touched on the Legislation in Episode 146 which related to new legislation coming into force in 2025. 

Since then, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been officially introduced in March 2025 to support the government’s Plan for Change milestones of building 1.5 million homes in England and fast-tracking 150 planning decisions on major economic infrastructure projects by the end of this Parliament. It is currently making its way through Parliament to become law. 

So what is the Planning and Infrastructure Bill:

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, as mentioned, is legislation aimed at speeding up and streamlining the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure through reforms to the planning system. 

It is a very ambitious piece of legislation outlining 5 overarching objectives looking at:

• Delivering a faster and more certain consenting process for critical infrastructure: A failure to build enough critical infrastructure, in particular Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), is constraining economic growth and undermining energy security. Upgrading the country’s major economic infrastructure – including electricity networks and clean energy sources, roads, public transport links and water supplies – is essential to delivering basic services and growing the economy. The Bill will make it quicker and easier to deliver critical infrastructure projects including through streamlining Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consultation requirements, ensuring National Policy Statements are kept up to date, and reducing opportunities for judicial review. These changes will support the government’s Clean Power Action Plan by accelerating the planning process for energy infrastructure and ensuring local communities benefit through the creation of a bill discount scheme for people living closest to new electricity transmission infrastructure.
• Introducing a more strategic approach to nature recovery: Instead of environmental protections being seen as a barrier to growth, the Bill seeks to unlock a win-win for the economy and for nature. The Bill will introduce a new Nature Restoration Fund that will unlock and accelerate development while going beyond simply offsetting harm to unlock the positive impact development can have in driving nature recovery.
• Improving certainty and decision-making in the planning system: Decisions about what to build and where should be shaped by local communities and reflect the views of local residents. However, in exercising local democratic oversight, it is vital that planning committees operate as effectively as possible. The Bill will ensure that they play their proper role in scrutinising development without obstructing it, whilst maximising the use of experienced professional planners. At the same time the reforms to planning fees will ensure that local planning authorities have the resources they need to deliver an efficient service by setting their own planning fees.
• Unlocking land and securing public value for large scale investment: The government is determined to enable more effective land assembly by public sector bodies, speed up site delivery, and deliver housing, infrastructure, amenity, and transport benefits in the public interest. To unlock more sites for development, the Bill will ensure that compensation paid to landowners through the compulsory purchase order process is fair but not excessive, and that development corporations can operate effectively.
• Introducing effective new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning: The Bill implements strategic planning at a sub-regional level through the production of Spatial Development Strategies to facilitate effective cross-boundary working to address development and infrastructure needs.

Now, how does the Bill seek to actually achieve these objectives:

1. Firstly, looking at Infrastructure:

• Through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project reform whereby the Bill aims to make targeted and impactful interventions through the reform to maximise certainty, speed and having a streamlined approach. As such, the Bill will require national policy statements to be updated every 5 years so that they reflect the government’s priorities and ambition. As well all giving the Secretary of State the power to direct projects out of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime on a case by case basis if a project would be better suited to being consented via an alternative consenting route. 
• The application acceptance criteria will also be changed in the Planning Act 2008 to enable the Planning Inspectorate to require corrective action on an application ahead of examination thereby reducing cautiousness from applicants and disproportionate gold plating of consultation requirements. A duty will also be introduced for statutory consultees and local authorities to have regard for guidance. The guidance will be targeted so that key consultees identify and narrow areas of disagreement through the pre-application process. This duty will be supported by guidance for applicants to ensure they provide consultees with the right level of information to support their role, on non-statutory engagement (in advance of statutory consultation), and the acceptance stage. The Bill will also remove the disincentive for statutory consultees, local authorities or those affected by compulsory acquisition to proactively engage in the DCO process between acceptance and preliminary meeting.
• Secondly, for energy related projects, the Bill shifts grid connection allocation from a “first come, first served” to a “first ready, first served” system to prioritise viable projects. Those that may be affected by new network infrastructure, the Bill proposes a discount on bills for those living closest  to new electricity transmission infrastructure. The Bill will also provide for reform in planning rules for electricity infrastructure development in Scotland aimed at cutting the time it takes to obtain consent for installing infrastructure.
• The Bill will also impose a duty on Ofgem to deliver a cap and floor scheme for long duration electricity storage supporting their investment and helping to ensure sufficient long duration electricity storage is deployed to help decarbonise the electricity system and allow maximum use of intermittent renewable energy generation. 
• Additionally, the Bill will amend the Forestry Act 1967 to grants powers to the “appropriate forestry authorities” to use and permit the use of forestry land for the generation, transmission, storage and supply of electricity from renewable sources. This will increase the amount of electricity produced from renewable sources and thus contribute towards the government’s energy and climate change targets while benefitting the longer-term funding of the appropriate forestry authorities. 
• The Bill will also make various amendments to the Highways Act 1980, with the intention of streamlining and improving the efficiency of delivering road infrastructure schemes, and making sure processes within the Highways Act 1980 regime are fit for purpose and proportionate. As well as amendments to the Transport and Works Act 1992 to ensure the regime is fit for purpose and proportionate, with the intention of streamlining and improving the efficiency of delivering new transport schemes. And will additionally amend the cost recovery process for Harbour Revision Orders so that they can be set more flexibly. 
• And lastly, the Bill will streamline the approval of street works needed for the installation of EV public charge points by removing the need for licences where the works are capable of being authorised by permits in order to expedite the roll out of EV charging infrastructure. 

1. Now relating to planning: 

• As mentioned, the Bill removes the default position of fees being set nationally and allows local authorities to set their own planning fees. The Bill will require the new fees to be set no higher than the cost of processing the application to ensure Local Authorities don’t raise fees to an extreme amount. Safeguards will allow the Secretary Of State to direct a review of the level of fees a local authority has set if they are felt to be inappropriate. 
• So that’s relating to fees, now other changes are related to planning committee reform and the Bill introducing a national scheme of delegation to avoid substantial delays with planning application determinations. This scheme will set out which decisions will go to officers to decide, and which will go to planning committee. It is understood that those applications which are clearly in accordance with a local plan, regardless of scale, will be decided by officers, and any speculative applications not considered by the local plan process may be considered by committee.The Bill is also proposing mandatory training for all planning committee members to streamline the planning process and recommends smaller, more targeted committees and legislation to be brought forward to regulate their size and composition.   
• Under planning, the Bill is also introducing Spatial Development Strategies facilitating cross boundary working to address development needs whether that be housing or infrastructure. It is envisioned Spatial Development Strategies will come above local plans.

1. Additional steps the Bill is seeking to make to meet the objectives is also through Development and Nature Recovery:

• Is through the introduction of a Nature Restoration Fund managed by Natural England to stop environmental protections being seen as a barrier to development. The fund will be used on strategic interventions to provide greater benefit for nature than the current bespoke mitigation approach. It is badged as going beyond simply offsetting harm and unlocking the positive impacts development can have on driving nature recovery. It is anticipated that the fund will be structured in a similar way to the Community Infrastructure Levy and support Environmental Delivery Plans drawn up by Natural England. Payment of the levy into the Fund will discharge a developer’s obligation, with the onus on Natural England to deliver the mitigation. Natural England will also be empowered to compulsorily purchase land for nature restoration, rewilding, or creating nature reserves to offset environmental impacts of development.

1. The next step is looking at Development corporations:

• Development Corporations are statutory bodies established for the purpose of urban development and regeneration and the government will legislate to strengthen them to make it easier for central and local government to deliver large scale new communities. Through the Bill the government intends to create a clearer, more flexible, and robust framework for the operation of development corporations to unlock more housing across the country, coordinating this with infrastructure and transport for sustained economic growth.

1. And lastly, changes the Bill is seeking to make to meet the objectives through Compulsory Purchase Order Reforms:

• Whereby the Bill seeks to allow statutory notices to be delivered electronically, simplify information to be included in newspaper notices, provide for more delegation of decisions, quicker vesting of land and changes to loss payments. The Bill aims to ensure compensation is paid to landowners for land acquired compulsorily is fair and not excessive. Public sector bodies gain enhanced powers for land assembly, expediting site delivery for housing and infrastructure.

Those are key objectives the Planning & Infrastructure Bill aims to achieve with its implementation, it builds on the recent changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, including a ‘brownfield first’ approach and the targeted release of ‘grey belt’ land for development. 

So how will the Bill affect architects work:

• I guess the most critical element to affect architects and their clients is the amendments to planning fees and the uncertainty of the levels these will be set at from the various Local Authorities. 
• Another element will be the national delegation scheme that will rule which application types are delegated to officers and which to planning committees. 
• Adjustments to the size of planning committees will also impact architects relating to their composition and level of knowledge. Although it has been stated that they will be well trained. 
• The new system of strategic planning across England will also be something to be aware of as it will group neighbouring authorities to provide cross-boundary spatial development strategies. The secretary of state will be able to give direction on particular policies or entire plans for timetabling, housing distribution or other reasons. Authorities that have elected mayors will be give new development management powers.
• The new nature restoration fund is also something architects will need to inform their clients of which developers will be able to pay into to discharge environmental obligations more quickly. 

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill represents a comprehensive overhaul of the UK’s planning and infrastructure regime, aiming to balance rapid economic development with environmental stewardship and local accountability. Although not yet law, it is envisioned the Bill will reach the House of Lord around mid-July this year. 

To sum up what I discussed today:

• The Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to support the government’s Plan for Change by streamlining planning processes to build 1.5 million homes and fast-track 150 major infrastructure projects before the end of the current Parliament.
• The Bill is split into 5 sections, Infrastructure, Planning, Development and Nature Recovery, Development Corporations and Compulsory Purchase
• Under infrastructure, the Bill targets delays in critical infrastructure projects by reforming the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime, updating national policy statements every five years, and facilitating faster, more predictable approvals.
• Under planning the Bill proposes a more efficient and locally responsive planning system by allowing local authorities to set their own planning fees (with safeguards), reforming planning committees, and introducing a national delegation scheme to expedite straightforward applications.
• Under the Development and Nature Recovery, the Bill introduces a new Nature Restoration Fund, managed by Natural England, that will support strategic environmental improvements allowing developers to meet ecological obligations through contributions rather than project-specific mitigations, promoting nature recovery at scale.
• Under the Development Corporations, the Bill will legislate to strengthen them to make it easier for central and local government to deliver large scale new communities.
• And lastly under the Compulsory Purchase, the Bill seeks to allow statutory notices to be delivered electronically, simplify information to be included in newspaper notices, provide for more delegation of decisions, quicker vesting of land and changes to loss payments.