Planning and Infrastructure Bill becomes law in bid to speed up UK energy projects

The government’s flagship Planning and Infrastructure Bill has formally come into force after receiving Royal Assent, a move ministers and industry leaders say will unlock faster delivery of major energy and infrastructure projects across the UK.

The legislation, which applies to sectors including energy, housing and transport, introduces a package of reforms designed to reduce delays in the planning system and accelerate nationally significant infrastructure such as wind farms, electricity networks and transmission upgrades.

Among the measures included in the Act are tighter limits on repeated legal challenges to approved infrastructure projects, a streamlined pre-application process for developers, and provisions to allow electricity bill discounts for communities located near new transmission schemes. Ministers argue the changes will help remove long-standing bottlenecks that have slowed investment and pushed up costs for consumers.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the legislation marked a decisive shift in planning policy. “We promised to grasp the nettle of planning reform – and we’re delivering,” she said. “This landmark legislation ends years of dither and delay that has held back too many vital projects.”

Energy companies and industry bodies have broadly welcomed the reforms. Keith Anderson, chief executive of ScottishPower, described the Bill as a positive step towards improving energy security and accelerating clean infrastructure delivery. He said ScottishPower’s £24bn investment programme was already under way, supporting thousands of green jobs as the company upgrades ageing power lines and expands grid capacity for renewable electricity.

“Streamlining planning processes is vital as we go further and faster towards upgrading Britain’s infrastructure,” Anderson said. “So too is having the appetite and desire to drive growth through investment.”

Renewable energy trade body RenewableUK also backed the legislation, highlighting its potential to reduce unnecessary delays. Steven Agnew, the organisation’s head of policy, said the reforms would help ensure that sustainable energy projects are built more quickly and in appropriate locations.

He welcomed new measures to improve training for local planning authorities, enabling them to make more informed decisions on renewable energy applications, as well as changes to the judicial review process to ensure legal challenges are proportionate. Agnew also said a smarter pre-application process would lead to better outcomes for both developers and local communities.

The government has positioned the Bill as a cornerstone of its wider growth and net zero strategy, arguing that faster planning decisions are essential to delivering clean power, modernising infrastructure and keeping energy costs down over the long term.