Regen has responded to the government’s latest consultation on reforms to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) service, drawing on insight from our members.
Regen has responded to the government’s latest consultation on reforms to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) service, drawing on insight from our members.
Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) are major, large-scale development projects in England and Wales. These projects are regulated under the Planning Act 2008, and as they are deemed of national importance, they are decided at the national level, where they require a Development Consent Order (DCO) to proceed.
NSIPs have faced long delays in securing their DCOs – it took on average 3.6 years to obtain DCO in 2024 – and this presents a barrier to developing the renewable generation and grid upgrades that are required for the government to meet its targets for CP30.
The Planning Inspectorate has made the decision to remove statutory consultation at the pre-application stage for NSIPs. They will also make changes to the acceptance test, which determines whether a proposal is of high enough quality to proceed to examination. They are seeking input on the guidance that they will provide to industry on what engagement should look like in lieu of statutory consultation.
Regen welcomes the effort to streamline the process, particularly where it supports the delivery of high-quality renewable energy projects and grid upgrades. In formulating our response to this consultation, Regen consulted with its members at its quarterly planning working group and sought feedback on our draft response via email. Statutory consultation prior to this change was considered by developers to be a prescriptive check-box exercise that was time-consuming and didn’t facilitate tailored or innovative forms of community engagement.
Regen feels that the removal of statutory consultation at the pre-application stage presents an opportunity to accelerate the NSIP application process and allows developers to refocus their efforts on engagement that is locally relevant, innovative and provides usable information for projects.
To ensure that quality engagement is undertaken in lieu of statutory consultation, guidance should encourage early and meaningful engagement that integrates the following principles:
The consultation proposes the introduction of a voluntary ‘Engagement Summary’ to be submitted with the application materials. Regen feels that this is an exciting opportunity for developers to outline the how and why of their engagement strategy. This could also help the examining authority to fairly assess engagement and provide reassurance for developers that they would be penalised where they omit information they deem unnecessary.
Regen feels that guidance should, at a high level, outline the benefits of doing community engagement while providing applicants with principles and examples of good engagement. We point towards our literature on Best Practices for Community Engagement as a framework for guidance. We suggest that guidance is non-prescriptive and concise, allowing for a usable framework for developers to apply flexibly based on project need and local context.
The Planning Inspectorate also sought views on additional services that aim to reduce timelines for projects, particularly where they are complex or are deemed to be of critical national priority. Regen agrees that there is merit to exploring faster planning timelines for projects that are key to meeting the goals of Clean Power 2030. However, conversations with our membership highlighted little interest in either the fast-track process or additional services offered by the planning inspectorate. Developers felt that these presented little to no added value and didn’t want to be forced to use a particular pathway or service, particularly where it involved additional expense.
Our membership noted uncertainty for developers who are consulting between now and the time at which the proposed changes come into effect. It is important that developers are given clear guidance in order to minimise delays and ensure projects are not penalised for engagement done during this transitional period.
Regen is excited about the potential of these proposals to reduce delays in the NSIP application process and to advance progress towards the goals set out in Clean Power 2030. Our members prefer non-prescriptive guidance on community engagement that allows them more flexibility and creativity and to carry out engagement that is locally relevant, proportionate and informative.
Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter containing industry insights, our latest research and upcoming events.
