25 October 2010
The Prime Minister today announced the publication of the UK’s first ever National Infrastructure Plan (NIP), identifying the scale of the infrastructure challenge and the major economic investment that is needed to underpin sustainable growth in the UK over the coming decades.
The plan detailed that Ministers are to clarify the Government’s proposals for a Major Infrastructure Planning Unit (MIPU) within the Planning Inspectorate by the end of 2010 alongside further details of transitional arrangements as the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) is wound up over the next two years. A similar commitment was also made on the publication of the remaining National Policy Statements (NPS) for those sectors other than energy, for which a revised NPS was published in October 2010. This should inform the likely timetable for the Airports NPS.
The infrastructure document stated that the Localism Bill, scheduled for publication in November 2010, would provide a radical reboot of the planning system, which would facilitate sustainable development and the provision of infrastructure. Other reforms referred to in the document include the consolidation of existing planning policies into a single document. The document pledged a full Government response to the Penfold Review on non-planning consents in November 2010 and an update in spring 2011 indicating progress on implementation.