Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2024-25

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2024-2025 was introduced to the House of Commons and had its first reading on 11 March 2025. Second reading is scheduled for 24 March 2025. The bill, explanatory notes and other documents can be found on the Parliament website.

The government published a guide to the bill and fact sheets on the nature restoration fund, critical infrastructure reforms, planning committees, local fee setting, bill discounts for transmission network infrastructure and strategic planning.

The bill would make changes to the law around planning and infrastructure to support ambitions in the government’s Plan for Change. These ambitions include delivering 1.5 million homes and deciding 150 nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) before the end of the 2024 parliament.

The bill would extend to England and Wales, with some provisions for infrastructure also extending to Scotland.

Nationally significant infrastructure projects

The bill would reform rules around nationally significant infrastructure projects (under the Planning Act 2008). These include requiring regular review of national policy statements and streamlined provision for updates, a more focused consultation process, the ability for the Secretary of State to direct projects out of the development consent process, and a revised procedure for legal challenge such as cases deemed to be “without merit”.

Electricity infrastructure

The bill includes measures to speed up the delivery of electricity infrastructure to meet the government’s ambition to decarbonise the power sector, as set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.

This includes provisions to:

• speed up the process of connecting electricity generating facilities to the electricity transmission network
• reform the planning consent process for electricity infrastructure in Scotland
• introduce a ‘cap and floor’ revenue support scheme for long duration energy storage technologies such as pumped storage hydro, compressed air energy storage, liquid air energy storage and flow batteries.
• set up a benefits scheme for households living near new or significantly upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure
• amend the Offshore Transmission Owner regime, and
• use forestry land for generating renewable energy

Transport projects

The bill’s transport measures are intended to streamline and improve planning processes for transport projects consented under the Highways Act 1980 and Transport and Works Act (TWA) 1992 regimes.

This includes new charging arrangements (for cost recovery), revised timescales for consultation and decision-making, and powers to take temporary possession of and use land. The bill would also remove the requirement for secondary legislation to approve some types of highway projects, such as classifying a road as a trunk road or downgrading a road from a trunk road to an ordinary A road, allowing the government to approve them without a parliamentary process.

The bill would remove the model clauses which prescribe the format for orders made under the TWA 1992 and replace them with guidance instead. It would simplify procedures for heritage, marine licensing and local authority resolutions and grant powers to change fees for harbour orders. It would also simplify the procedure for installing electric vehicle charging points.

Stakeholder reaction to the transport infrastructure parts of the bill has been limited. The National Infrastructure Planning Association welcomed the introduction of statutory timescales for decisions made by the Secretary of State and in principle supported the introduction of cost recovery. The Electric Vehicle Association welcomed the changes the bill would make to the processes for installation of electric vehicle charge points. However, some have also argued that these changes could lead to an increase in conflicts over charge point users obstructing pavements.

Planning fees and charges

The bill would enable local authorities to set planning fees and charges locally, and it would allow additional fees to be ring fenced for planning services.

It would establish a national scheme of planning delegation and require mandatory training of planning committee members. It would also introduce new strategic planning boards and clarify the process for spatial development strategies to ensure these are prepared by all types of combined and unitary authorities across England.

Powers for Natural England

The bill would grant new powers for Natural England to produce ‘environmental development plans’ (EDPs). Where in place, these will replace the requirements under the Habitats Regulations for assessing the impact of any project on significant nature protection sites.

EDPs would allow Natural England to plan how to minimise or compensate for a specified environmental impact over an area for a specified type and amount of development. Developers would pay for compensation measures by paying a levy into a Nature Restoration Fund. Project-level environmental assessments would be limited only to those impacts not covered by EDPs.

Development corporations

Provisions in the bill would clarify the role and remit of all types of development corporations, [statutory bodies set up to carry out large-scale development and regeneration projects]. The provisions are intended to ensure a consistent approach to support large-scale housing delivery such as new towns and urban extensions.

Development corporation powers would be extended for infrastructure, with the power to exercise transport functions (as a last resort) to help deliver infrastructure.

Provisions would include ensuring development corporations have regard to sustainable development and climate change.

Compulsory purchase

The bill would bring together and streamline compulsory purchase procedures. It would enable greater flexibility for change and early possession of land, within set legislative parameters. It would modify loss payments for landowners and occupiers to reflect the impact of compulsory purchase on both groups, and exclude housing loss payments where compulsory purchase was initiated due to blight resulting from neglect.

The bill would also enable hope value (the market value of land which takes account of potential planning permission) to be disregarded in certain circumstances such as where parish, town and community councils are seeking to deliver affordable housing. Market value, rather than hope value, would also apply for home loss, basic or occupier loss payments. An organisation seeking compulsory purchase would still need to demonstrate that it was in the public interest, for example because of economic, social or environmental improvements.