The Infrastructure Bill which has been the subject of heated debate in Parliament  in recent weeks over regulations related to fracking gained Royal Assent and passed into law today.

The legislation will allow the creation of Highways England, a government-owned company and will also give local people the right to buy a stake in renewable energy projects, while cutting red tape for nationally significant infrastructure projects to boost investment.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said:

This act will hugely boost Britain’s competitiveness in transport, energy provision, housing development and nationally significant infrastructure projects. Cost efficient infrastructure development is all part of the government’s long term economic plan, boosting competitiveness, jobs and growth.

“A key part of this act will be the creation of Highways England, which will for the first time use long-term sustained funding to deliver the government’s roads investment strategy, worth £15 billion, to deliver more than 100 schemes between now and the end of the next Parliament.”

“Through the creation of Highways England we expect to see savings to the taxpayer of at least £2.6 billion over the next 10 years.”

The Department of Transport said the Act will:

• turn the Highways Agency into a government-owned company, Highways England, with stable long term funding to drive down costs to the taxpayer and make the new arms-length company more accountable to Parliament and to road users
• enable surplus and redundant public sector land and property to be sold more quickly by cutting red tape, increasing the amount of previously used land available for new homes
• end unreasonable and excessive delays on projects which already have been granted planning permission, by a new ‘deemed discharge’ provision on planning conditions – this will help speed up house building
• allow Land Registry to create a digitised local land charges register that will improve access to data, standardise fees and improve turnaround times for property professionals and citizens
• enable Land Registry to undertake new services that would further improve the conveyancing process or benefit the wider property sector
• give local communities the right to buy a stake in renewable energy infrastructure projects
• boost UK energy security and economic growth by extracting domestic shale gas, which has the potential to create jobs, making us less reliant on imports from abroad and help us tackle climate change, all within one of the most robust regulatory regimes in the world
• set a cycling and walking investment strategy
• improve the nationally significant infrastructure regime by making a number of technical administrative improvements to the Planning Act 2008 following a review of how the act has operated
• enable the creation of an allowable solutions scheme to provide a cost effective way for house builders to meet the zero carbon homes obligation

The act was published by the Department for Transport on behalf of the Land Registry, the Departments for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Energy and Climate Change and Communities and Local Government.

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA( has welcomed the passage of the Infrastructure Act into law today, saying it will make it quicker and simpler to get Britain building.

CECA said the new Act creates a 5-year funding certainty for the highways infrastructure supply chain in England, and comes after a long campaign by CECA to smooth the profile of roads investment.  The legislation will underpin a £15 billion programme of road maintenance and enhancements, giving the construction industry the confidence to prepare for project delivery in terms of skills and manpower, equipment and materials.

Commenting, CECA chief executive Alasdair Reisner said:

“The granting of Royal Assent today marks the culmination of a long push by industry to improve the way we invest in our motorways. This long term certainty will allow investment in skills, equipment and innovation, and should in turn reduce the cost of delivery and make savings for the taxpayer.”