The Government has published its action plan for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) aimed at speeding up the delivery of major infrastructure projects, including those in in the water and wastewater sector.

Image: Section of Thames Tideway Tunnel

NSIPs currently in the pipeline in the water and wastewater sector include Southern Water’s Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project and Anglian Water’s Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation.

Thames Water’s application for a Development Consent Order for the £4.2 billion Tideway Tunnel was granted in September 2014. All works on the supersewer are due for completion in 2025.

The measures contained in the action plan include piloting a new fast track process, with powers for the Secretary of State to set shorter timelines for certain projects.

Departments responsible for NSIPs – Department for Transport, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero – will shortly make announcements on their National Policy Statements which help to set the future direction for infrastructure.

Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects are large-scale projects related to energy; transport; water; waste water and waste, which are of national importance and go through a separate planning process to other infrastructure projects.

Between 2012 and 2021 there was a 65% increase in the time it took for projects to go through the NSIP process and the action plan aims to tackle this. The timespan for Development Consent Orders (DCO) increased by 65% between 2012 and 2021 from 2.6 to 4.2 years.

The changes set out in the action plan include:

• Reviewing and updating National Policy Statements (NPSs) more regularly to make sure they clearly set direction which enables more robust decision making. The government has already asked the National Infrastructure Commission to make recommendations on how the process to renew NPSs can be strengthened and improved.
• Speeding up the application process by streamlining regulations and updating guidance to make sure it is proportionate and piloting a new fast track process with powers for the Secretary of State to set shorter timelines for certain projects.
• Reforming environmental regulations around new development and introducing the Environmental Outcomes Report – a new approach that will make environmental protections more effective, reduce bureaucracy and focus on the outcome of development. The action plan will also make sure that the NSIP process is aligned with the government’s wider environmental goals, such as reaching Net Zero.
• Strengthening community engagement through more support and knowledge sharing between local authorities and the Planning Inspectorate. The use of Planning Performance Agreements will also be revised to be more effective. This will ensure the role local areas play in delivering new projects is increasingly recognised.
• Measures to help infrastructure developers get the early expertise they need, including powers for certain experts consulted during the process to recover full costs for services.

Launching the action plan, the Government said it is committed to speeding up the delivery of critical infrastructure and improving the consenting process for all projects entering the system. Under the plans for a new fast track route planning route, the Secretary of the State will have new powers to decide whether to put shorter deadlines in place to examine certain projects.

The Government has also asked the National Infrastructure Commission to provide recommendations on the future of National Policy Statements and how the role of these important documents play can be strengthened and improved.

Click here to view the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) reforms: action plan online