TO BE PUBLISHED November 2026
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This conference will examine next steps for the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime in England.
With main consenting reforms under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 in force since July 2026, it will bring together stakeholders with policymakers to examine the early implementation of the reformed framework. Areas for discussion include delivery capacity and project viability, biodiversity and environmental assessment requirements, judicial review and legal challenge, and the changing basis for community engagement and local authority involvement.
Delegates will assess what the move to a discretionary pre-application phase means in practice, alongside retained notification and publicity duties, with mandatory pre-application consultation removed. The role of earlier technical advice from the Planning Inspectorate will be considered alongside the implications for applicants, statutory bodies, local authorities and communities, and what further clarity or adjustment may be needed as experience of the new arrangements develops. Priorities relating to implementation of remaining guidance and secondary legislation will also be assessed, including preparing for further reform planned for 2027.
Environmental requirements will be a further focus, with discussion on how the different regimes can work together without adding unnecessary complexity, delay or duplication. Attendees will consider implications for project design, land requirements, evidence, cost and delivery - as Biodiversity Net Gain is extended to relevant NSIPs, the transition towards Environmental Outcomes Reports progresses, and the Nature Restoration Fund and first Environmental Delivery Plans are developed. We expect discussion on questions of proportionality, transitional arrangements and how the different requirements work together through planning and delivery.
Further sessions will consider potential issues raised by an expanding infrastructure pipeline for planning, regulatory and delivery capacity, with the Government committed to determining at least 150 major infrastructure projects by the end of this Parliament. Areas for discussion include approaches to addressing emerging pressures across applicants, the Planning Inspectorate, statutory consultees and local authorities, the skills and specialist expertise required, and arrangements for coordination across major infrastructure sectors to support more predictable delivery.
The agenda will also examine questions around project viability and investment, including policy and regulatory certainty, financing and risk allocation, and the cumulative effect of changing consenting and environmental requirements. Implications for promoters and investors will be considered, alongside the demands an expanding pipeline places on supply chains, host communities and the public bodies involved in delivery.
Consenting reform - pre-application, examination, judicial review & National Policy Statements
Sessions will assess how the reformed framework is working in practice and priorities moving forward, with further forthcoming guidance and secondary legislation. Delegates will consider next steps for streamlining the NSIP regime and how reform can translate into faster, more predictable delivery of critical infrastructure, while maintaining appropriate environmental safeguards, democratic scrutiny and community engagement.
Areas for discussion include:
- pre-application: discretionary engagement following removal of statutory consultation - expectations for effective engagement and implications for applicants, statutory bodies and communities
- acceptance & examination: revised acceptance test - Initial Assessment of Principal Issues - role of statutory bodies and approaches to streamlining examination
- transition: implications for preparations under previous regime - remaining secondary legislation - new process for amending Development Consent Orders planned for 2027
- judicial review:
- removal of paper permission stage - no appeal where a claim is totally without merit - faster court timetables
- consultation on extending NSIP judicial review reform to Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and Transport and Works Act 1992 regimes
- Critical National Importance: proposed parliamentary authorisation route and challenge window mechanism for clean energy projects - implications for timelines, certainty and scrutiny
- National Policy Statements: five-yearly review duty - updates to energy, ports, nuclear and geological disposal policy - implications for policy certainty
Environmental assessment - Biodiversity Net Gain, Environmental Outcomes Reports & the Nature Restoration Fund
The agenda will look at implementation of changing environmental requirements within the NSIP regime, how they interact with one another, and what they mean for project design, land requirements and programme.
Areas for discussion include:
- scope & implementation: mandatory 10% BNG requirement - implications for project design, land, cost and programme
- delivery & monitoring: on-site and off-site provision - long-term habitat management - securing and reporting gains
- Environmental Outcomes Reports: transition from EIA and SEA by the end of 2027 - development and testing - transitional arrangements and legal certainty
- Nature Restoration Fund: first Environmental Delivery Plans - levy arrangements - application to infrastructure impacts and mitigation
- coordination: interaction between BNG, the Habitats Regulations, EDPs and EORs - proportionality and avoiding duplication
- capacity: ecological, assessment and monitoring resource - implications of statutory consultee reform - guidance and consistency of practice
Infrastructure pipeline - delivery capacity, investment, supply chains & skills
Further sessions will assess priorities for strengthening planning, regulatory and delivery capacity for an expanding pipeline, alongside the conditions needed to keep projects viable and investable.
Areas for discussion include:
- pipeline & capacity: workforce requirements - sequencing across transport, energy, water and utilities - planning and regulatory capacity
- supply chains & delivery: resilience and constraints - procurement and longer-term commercial relationships - coordination between delivery bodies
- investment & viability: policy certainty under a changing regulatory framework - public and private financing - risk allocation and funding models
- lessons from delivery: managing consenting and implementation risk - practical experience from projects moving into construction
Communities, local authorities & public confidence
Discussion will also consider how the reformed regime interacts with the places that host major infrastructure, and what the reformed pre-application phase means for communities, local involvement, costs and confidence.
Areas for discussion include:
- local engagement: arrangements in the absence of a statutory duty - consistency across projects - early identification of issues
- public confidence: transparency of discretionary engagement - accountability and legal challenge
- community benefits: bill discount scheme for households near new transmission infrastructure - community funds guidance
- local authority capacity: cost recovery and fees - Innovation and Capacity Fund - role of Local Impact Reports
- cumulative impacts: multiple schemes in the same area - coordination between national infrastructure priorities and local planning
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include parliamentary pass-holders from the House of Commons and officials from the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department for Transport; Great British Energy; Government Legal Department; HM Treasury; Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Ministry of Defence; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority; Office for Investment; Office for Environmental Protection; Ofwat; Planning Inspectorate; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
