On 18th July 2011 the House of Commons debated and approved the six National Policy Statements for Energy (NPS). On 19th July 2011, Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change designated the NPSs under the Planning Act 2008. Designation of the energy NPSs will ensure that we have a planning system that is rapid, predicable and accountable. Planning decisions will be taken within the clear policy framework set out in the NPSs, making these decisions as transparent as possible.
The energy NPSs set out national policy against which proposals for major energy projects will be assessed and decided on by the Infrastructure Planning Commission. In future, the changes to the Planning Act 2008 made in the Localism Act 2011 mean NPSs will also be the primary documents for the new National Infrastructure Division (NID) within the Planning Inspectorate. NID will use NPSs in its examination of applications for development consent, and Ministers will use them when making decisions. A statement about the Direction which will implement transitional provisions for cases already in the IPC system can be found on the Communities and Local Government: Transition to the Planning Act as amended by the Localism Act 2011 web page.
It is essential that Ministers and officials working on development consent decisions act, and are seen to act, fairly and even-handedly by bringing an unbiased, properly directed and independent mind to the consideration of the matter. DECC has therefore published the guidance they follow when dealing with stakeholders who are interested in such cases:
The energy NPSs designated on 19th July 2011 are:
Prior to designation, the energy NPSs were subject to two rounds of Parliamentary Scrutiny and public consultation. The previous Government consulted on the draft energy NPSs between November 2009 and February 2010. The second consultation was conducted between 18th October 2010 and 24th January 2011. Material relating to these consultations can be found at the Energy National Policy Statement (NPS) consultation archive.
The Government response to Parliament, Government response to consultation and impact assessment can be accessed:
Also available to view are: