In 2020, the National Infrastructure Strategy established a government ambition to accelerate and improve the consenting process for major infrastructure projects, including those considered under the Planning Act 2008 (PA2008). These ambitions were reinforced in 2022 within the British Energy Security Strategy. Following an operational review of the PA2008 process, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published an action plan setting out proposed reforms that would be implemented to ensure the PA2008 process can support the country's future infrastructure needs. Between July and September 2023, DLUHC consulted on the details of the operational reforms and government's response to the consultation was published on 6 March 2024. The Planning Inspectorate has been working to respond to the government's brief, some examples of which are provided below.
Future pre-application service and fees
The Planning Inspectorate will establish a new pre-application service for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), consisting of three different tiers: Basic, Standard and Enhanced. Every NSIP must subscribe to one of these tiers at the pre-application stage of the process.
The Planning Inspectorate will charge applicants for its pre-application service for each of the three tiers, to meet the government's aim of full cost recovery. The three different pre-application tiers will ensure the process of cost recovery is fair to all applicants. For example, those wishing to have the Basic service from the Planning Inspectorate will pay less than those wanting the Enhanced service. The Planning Inspectorate will only charge applicants for its pre-application service, it will not charge other stakeholders in the NSIP process. As referenced in DLUHC's guidance on cost recovery by The Planning Inspectorate and Public Bodies (8 March 2024), the recovery of pre-application fees by the Planning Inspectorate is expected from October 2024.
From April 2024, DLUHC will publish a tranche of updated guidance reflecting reforms to the NSIP process, after which the Planning Inspectorate will publish an updated Pre-application Prospectus, describing the three different pre-application tiers and the service available. To support with our planning and preparations, following the publication of the Pre-Application Prospectus, an expression of interest process will take place, whereby existing and new applicants will be requested to inform us which tier of pre-application service they would like. Further detail about how each pre-application project will be allocated to a tier will be provided at a later date.
The Planning Inspectorate will move from publishing advice
