Consultation on streamlining infrastructure planning

From:: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Published: 1 September 2025

Applies to England and Wales

Summary

This consultation seeks views on changes to guidance, services operated by the public sector, and secondary legislation to streamline the infrastructure planning process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

This consultation closes at
11:59pm on 27 October 2025

Consultation description

This consultation seeks views on changes to guidance, public sector services and secondary legislation to streamline infrastructure consenting for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).

This includes the following proposals that support the application process for development consent under the Planning Act 2008:

new guidance about consultation and engagement following removal of statutory pre-application consultation requirements through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill
guidance and secondary legislation to support notification and publicity
guidance to support the acceptance stage for applications
the use of Initial Assessments of Principal Issues to focus examinations
guidance for public bodies about their role in examinations
changes to regulations related to the examination of applications including compulsory acquisition
reforms and improvements to pre-application services provided by the Planning Inspectorate and the fast-track process
supporting pre-application services through effective resourcing of statutory bodies

It also seeks views on the removal of statutory pre-application requirements for onshore wind projects under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 guidance.

These proposals relate to England, Wales and Scotland (to a limited extent) only.

Documents