Planning Act 2008: Introduction to National Infrastructure Planning Guidance (July 2026)

1. The purpose of this guidance

1.1 This guidance sets out the role and scope of the National Infrastructure Planning Guidance (“guidance”) and introduces Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) and the process under the Planning Act 2008.

2. Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects

2.1 NSIPs are large scale developments in the fields of energy, transport, water, wastewater and waste, in England, and in some circumstances in Wales and Scotland. Examples of NSIPs include power stations, wind farms, major roads, railways, airports, water reservoirs and waste or water treatment plants. NSIPs are nationally important and these developments are therefore decided at the national level rather than locally.

2.2 The Planning Act 2008 (the “Planning Act”) creates a separate planning route for NSIPs where, if the application is approved, development consent is granted by the relevant Secretary of State. A Secretary of State is a senior government minister who heads up a government department. For example, in the case of a wind farm it will be the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero who decides the application. When the Secretary of State decides whether to grant approval for the NSIP, the Secretary of State makes the decision based on the planning merits of the development and the legal and policy framework, not political considerations.

2.3 Instead of planning permission, NSIPs require development consent which is granted by making a Development Consent Order (DCO). The DCO is made by the relevant Secretary of State and, as well as granting development consent, may also incorporate other consents and licences. The DCO may, if certain conditions are met, authorise the compulsory acquisition of land and/or rights over land. The DCO specifies the details of the development consented and any requirements, similar to planning conditions, that must be met.

2.4 A number of different types of applicant apply for DCOs. For example, for energy DCOs the applicant is usually a private developer, while for transport DCOs the applicant will often be a public body, such as National Highways. The applicant will submit their application for a DCO to the Planning Inspectorate who decide whether or not to accept the application. The Planning Inspectorate is an executive agency, sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), and acts on behalf of the Secretary of State during various stages of the NSIP process, including the acceptance stage. If the application is accepted, the Planning Inspectorate appoints one or more inspectors to examine the application. The inspector or panel of inspectors is called the Examining Authority. The Examining Authority carries out an examination on the main planning issues associated with the application, which will usually take up to 6 months, although it may be completed sooner where the issues can be examined more quickly.

2.5 The main planning issues will vary from application to application, depending on the local area and type of development. For example, for an offshore wind farm, the main planning issues might include environmental effects on marine life, impacts on commercial fisheries, impacts on shipping and navigation and landscape and visual effects. Once the examination has finished, the Examining Authority has three months in which to write a report detailing its findings and conclusions on the main planning issues and giving a recommendation on whether the Secretary of State should grant consent or not. The Secretary of State then has three months to decide whether to grant approval for the NSIP or not, taking into account the findings laid out in the Examining Authority’s report and recommendation, and in accordance with the statutory framework. 

2.6 Once a decision to grant or refuse consent has been issued it can be challenged in the High Court through Judicial Review proceedings. A claim for Judicial Review must be made within 6 weeks.

2.7 To qualify as an NSIP, a development must come within the definition and meet certain thresholds set out in Part 3 of the Planning Act. Section 35 of the Planning Act allows the Secretary of State to direct certain other developments, which do not meet the definition or threshold within the Planning Act, into the NSIP regime. Section 35B of the Planning Act allows the Secretary of State to direct certain developments, which do meet the definition and threshold, out of the NSIP regime into an appropriate alternative regime.

2.8 Along with granting consent for an NSIP, a DCO can also contain provisions about “associated development”, which are typically works that are required to support its construction or operation. What constitutes associated development will be specific to the particular case, but examples may include access routes, connections to water mains or electricity networks, temporary access arrangements or construction worker compounds. A DCO can also include related housing development in certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions.

3. The NSIP process

3.1 The NSIP process is made up of the following stages:

• Pre-application - the applicant spends time preparing their application, engaging with stakeholders such as local authorities, planning specialists, public bodies with statutory responsibilities in important matters such as the environment or transport, and members of the public, including those whose land or homes may be affected by the proposed development. The applicant then submits the application and supporting evidence to the Planning Inspectorate. There is no statutory deadline for the pre-application stage; it is up to the applicant to organise their time and resource according to the needs of the development.

• Acceptance - the Planning Inspectorate decides whether or not to accept the application, in line with requirements of the Planning Act and accompanying secondary legislation, which includes considering if the application is of a suitable standard to proceed to examination. The acceptance stage has a statutory deadline of 28 days.

• Pre-examination - the Planning Inspectorate appoints an Examining Authority, consisting of between 1 and 5 examining inspectors. During this stage, local authorities, other statutory bodies (such as Natural England, the Environment Agency, and Historic England), local communities and members of the public can register to become an interested party to the examination. In order to register, people need to make a relevant representation (a submission in writing), providing full details, where practicable, of the issues the person or organisation wants to raise about the application. The Examining Authority considers the application documents, relevant representations and any Local Impact Reports (LIRs), including draft LIRs, submitted by local authorities affected by the application, to identify the key issues on which the examination should focus. These are set out in its Initial Assessment of Principal Issues (IAPI), which is used to inform how the examination is structured and conducted. Once registered interested parties are able to participate in the examination. There is no statutory deadline for the pre-examination stage-but the expectation is that it will usually be completed within 4 months.

• Examination - the Examining Authority examines the application, by considering any LIRs (provided by local authorities), written and any oral representations from interested parties, supporting evidence submitted, and responses to its written questions. The examination is primarily carried out in writing, with the Examining Authority able to ask questions, invite further written comments, hold hearings where necessary and undertake site visits. The examination stage has a statutory deadline of six months.

• Recommendation - on completion of examination, the Examining Authority writes a recommendation report and sends this to the relevant Secretary of State. The recommendation report contains the Examining Authority’s findings and conclusions in respect of the application and its recommendation as to the decision. This recommendation report stage has a statutory deadline of three months.

• Decision - the relevant Secretary of State considers the recommendation report and the DCO application, alongside the legal framework, and will decide whether consent should be granted for the development and, if so, the approved content of the DCO. This decision stage has a statutory deadline of three months.

• Post Decision - many of the requirements set out in the DCO must be ‘discharged’ before the developer (which may be the original applicant or another party where the applicant has passed on the benefit of the DCO) can start work on many elements of the development. This involves a relevant authority (such as a local authority or the Secretary of State) agreeing that the developer has met the requirement, for example, to submit a final Traffic Management Plan. Certain persons (specified in Schedule 6 of the Planning Act) can also apply to make changes to the DCO after consent has been granted. Usually this will involve the developer applying to the Secretary of State for a correction order (for very minor drafting errors) or applying for a non-material or material change to the DCO.

4. The role of National Infrastructure Planning Guidance

4.1 The NSIP regime introduced by the Planning Act has been in operation since 2010 and several changes to it have been made in that time. To support the legislation, a range of guidance documents have been issued by MHCLG, which was formerly called the Department for Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities. MHCLG  is responsible for planning policy and therefore responsible for ensuring the legislation and guidance is regularly updated to reflect changing policy, advances in technology, and to support ongoing improvements to the performance of the NSIP process.

4.2 This version of the guidance has been updated in 2026 as part of the government’s reforms to the infrastructure planning system, and reflects changes to the Planning Act made through the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. The guidance has been developed with input from across government, industry, local authorities, and statutory bodies, and was informed by responses received in Autumn 2025 to the government’s public consultation on streamlining infrastructure planning.

4.3 The main changes and themes in this guidance are set out below:

• Applicants have an important role in making the most efficient use of time during pre-application and ensuring they involve relevant parties in producing well-prepared applications. It is for the applicant to determine how best to structure their time and resources in the preparation of an application, now that the legal requirements around the strict consultation processes previously contained in the Planning Act have been removed. Engagement and/or consultation on applications during pre-application is still extremely important so that applicants can produce the best possible applications and identify the issues that might affect delivery as early as possible.

• The expectation is that the pre-examination stage should take no longer than four months from acceptance of a DCO application for examination. To maximise the value of this stage, local authorities are encouraged to submit LIRs, including in draft form, alongside the submission of relevant representations. Early submission is important to enable evidence from the local authority to help shape the Examining Authority’s IAPI.

• The IAPI plays a central role in supporting a more streamlined and focused examination. Examining Authorities should use the IAPI to prioritise the matters most important to the decision and to guide   the structure and conduct of the examination, making decisions about examination procedure in the light of this. This will help to ensure that the examination focuses on the key issues, allowing sufficient evidence to be gathered and tested to enable the Examining Authority to reach clear and reasoned conclusions.

• Focusing the examination will help to support the Examining Authority to prepare a robust and complete recommendation to the Secretary of State, reducing the risk of an extension to the decision stage when the Secretary of State needs to request further information. Given the importance of NSIPs nationally, sticking to the statutory deadlines is important to ensure the delivery of vital infrastructure.

5. The structure of the National Infrastructure Planning Guidance 

5.1 The National Infrastructure Planning Guidance is structured around the main stages of the NSIP process:

• guidance on preparing applications
  • part 1 - pre-application steps
  • part 2 - application contents
  • part 3 - content of a Development Consent Order
• guidance on the acceptance stage of an application
• guidance on the pre-examination stage of an application
• guidance on the examination stage of an application
• guidance on the decision-making stage of an application
• changes to Development Consent Orders

5.2 Other guidance supplements and explains in further detail particular aspects of the NSIP process:

• fast-track
• fees, cost recovery and planning performance agreements
• compulsory acquisition
• procedures for reviewing and amending National Policy Statements
• powers to direct a project into or out of the NSIP regime

5.3 Each guidance section explains where guidance has been superseded, otherwise the guidance remains valid. All current guidance is published on the National Infrastructure Planning Guidance Portal on gov.uk.

5.4 This government guidance is aimed at everyone who may be involved in the NSIP process, including applicants, legal advisers, local authorities, other statutory bodies, local communities and other interested parties and individuals. It also sets out the roles played by government departments and their agencies. All participants are strongly encouraged to support the overarching national interest by enabling DCO applications to be considered effectively and in a timely way.

6. The territorial application of the National Infrastructure Planning Guidance  

6.1 The NSIP provisions in the Planning Act generally extend to England and Wales (and to Scotland in very limited circumstances set out below), but the territorial application may vary depending on the provision. In relation to Wales, the thresholds in the Planning Act for certain project-types may be different (and are often higher) to enable decisions to be taken by the Welsh Government on certain developments under the separate Welsh infrastructure consenting regime. The NSIP regime is only relevant to Scotland in very limited circumstances, extending and applying (where relevant) only so far as required for the construction (other than by a gas transporter) of an oil or gas cross-country pipeline (with one end in England or Wales and the other end in Scotland). Part 3 of the Planning Act sets out the definitions and thresholds for different types of NSIPs, including the thresholds in respect of different geographical locations.

6.2 Applicants will need to consider carefully the extent, if any, to which their application needs to meet particular requirements in Wales or in Scotland. It is advised that applicants seek advice from legal professionals in preparing their application.

7. Communication of updates to National Infrastructure Planning Guidance

7.1 To ensure guidance remains up to date and reflects relevant legislation, policy and case law, as well as any changing circumstances or advancements in technologies, it will be reviewed as necessary.

7.2 All users of guidance are encouraged to check that the most up to date guidance, and paragraphs within that guidance where appropriate, are used and referenced where necessary. The National Infrastructure Planning Guidance Portal provides an up-to-date summary of the guidance that is in force and the guidance that is due to be revised and an approximate date for its publication. The National Infrastructure Planning Guidance Portal also enables users to sign up to updates so that they can be kept informed of any changes.

Transitional arrangements   

7.3 There may be occasions when guidance is revised when applicants have already commenced their pre-application steps or after a NSIP application has been submitted for acceptance, or is in pre-examination or examination. The NSIP application will be considered in light of the guidance for the relevant stage in existence at the time. Where necessary, the relevant revised guidance will set out any transitional arrangements, including expectations on applicants with applications that are already in progress. 

8. The relationship between National Infrastructure Planning Guidance and the Planning Inspectorate’s advice pages

8.1 The Planning Inspectorate carries out certain functions related to the NSIP process on behalf of the Secretary of State. In addition to guidance issued by the Secretary of State, the Planning Inspectorate publishes advice pages that are intended to inform applicants, public authorities, the public and others about a range of operational matters in the preparation, structure, content, and presentation of applications made under the Planning Act.

8.2 The Planning Inspectorate’s advice is non-statutory, which means there is no legal obligation to follow it. However, the advice is drawn from good practice and applicants and others are encouraged to consider it carefully and follow its recommendations where appropriate. The advice is intended to complement the primary legislation, secondary legislation and guidance issued by government.

9. The legal status of the National Infrastructure Planning Guidance

9.1 Some of the NSIP guidance is issued under specific statutory powers or duties. These are listed below:

• applicants must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State under section 50(1) of the Planning Act to assist them in complying with section 48 of the Planning Act (duty to publicise a proposed DCO application)
• under section 50(2) of the Planning Act, the Secretary of State must issue guidance to assist applicants, setting out what the Secretary of State considers to be best practice on the steps applicants might take in preparing an application for development consent
• any guidance issued by the Secretary of State under section 37(4) of the Planning Act about how the requirements under section 37(3) of the Planning Act (the form and contents of an application) are to be complied with
• any guidance issued by the Secretary of State to assist local authorities in preparing LIRs in accordance with section 60 of the Planning Act. In preparing a LIR, an authority must have regard to this guidance (but this duty does not apply to an authority for an area in Scotland)
• any guidance issued by the Secretary of State to support public authorities in participating in the examination of a DCO application in accordance with new section 96A of the Planning Act. In making any representations, a relevant public authority must have regard to this guidance
• guidance which applies to regulations made under section 54A of the Planning Act which provide for the charging of fees by certain public authorities for the relevant services and assistance they provide to applicants as part of the NSIP process. These public authorities must have regard to this guidance when exercising their functions under the regulations
• any guidance issued by the Secretary of State on NSIPs and related housing development. The Secretary of State, when deciding an application for development consent through a DCO that includes related housing development, must take into account any matters set out in guidance under section 115(7) of the Planning Act

9.2 The guidance is not a comprehensive guide to every aspect of the NSIP regime under the Planning Act and should be read alongside the relevant legislation. Nothing in this guidance should be taken as indicating that any requirement of planning law or any other law may be overridden. The guidance does not in any way replace the statutory provisions of the Planning Act or associated secondary legislation or national policy statements, nor does it add to their scope. Only the courts can give an authoritative interpretation of legislation. Users of this guidance must therefore take their own independent professional and legal advice about the interpretation of the legislation.