Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects

Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects are projects of a certain type, over a certain size or significance, and as such considered by the Government to be of national importance and as a result permission should to be given at the National level, by the responsible Government minister at thetime (the ‘Secretary of State’).

These projects apply for permission directly to the Planning Inspectorate, rather than the local authority, using a different form and process which is set out in the Planning Act 2008 and referred to as a Development Consent Order (DCO). The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) was originally formed in 2008 to carry out this work regardig NSIPs, however under the under the Localism Act 2011 it was abolished. Since April 2012 the Infrastructure Planning Unit which is within the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) has been responsible for operating the planning process for NSIPs.

Under The Planning Act 2008, nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) fall into five general categories; Energy; Transport; Water; Waste Water and Waste and can include projects as diverse as electricity generation, rail freight interchanges, reservoirs and hazardous waste facilities.

Scoping Requests are made at the pre-planning stage and are sent to the various relevant consultation bodies invloved in the process. Acceptance for Examination describes the stage confirming an application has been accepted for examination under Section 56 of the Planning Act 2008. A Rule 6 Notice refers to a letter from the Planning Inspectorate giving Notice of the Preliminary Meeting concerning the matter. The Rule 8 Notice refers to a letter or notice from the Planning Inspectorate confirme dthe procedural decisions made following the preliminary meeting and formally opening the examination stage of the process. At this stage statutory parties that have not made a relevant representation are asked if they wish to become an Interested Party.

The Planning Inspectorate are required to publish monthly updates Performance updates, these updates also include the number of NSIPs current in the systems. In September 2022 the inspectorate had 'a high number of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) at various stages. They include 70 national infrastructure schemes where we are providing advice before submission, 10 applications being considered by us and 12 proposals where we have completed our recommendations and the Secretary of State’s decision is awaited. These are vital to the ongoing support by The Planning Inspectorate to the country’s economic recovery."

In February 2023 the Government published the policy paper "Nationally Significant Infrastructure: action plan for reforms to the planning process" calling for a overhaul of the existing system.

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