Planning Inspectorate
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The government has published guidance about national infrastructure planning which members of the public may also find helpful. See the National Infrastructure Planning Guidance Portal. The guidance should be read alongside the Planning Act 2008 (the Planning Act).
This advice is non-statutory. However, the Planning Inspectorates advice about running the infrastructure planning system and matters of process is drawn from good practice and applicants and others should follow our recommendations. It is intended to complement the legislation, regulations and guidance issued by government and is produced under section 51 of the Planning Act.
The stages of the NSIP process
There are 6 stages to the NSIP process:
Following an operational review of the NSIP system the government published a reform Action Plan. The government then consulted on the operational changes proposed in the Action Plan and published a response to the consultation in March 2024. To support the reforms legislation has been amended and the government has published new and updated guidance.
The Planning Inspectorate has developed a new pre-application service to support the governments reforms which introduces, amongst other matters, a new Fast Track procedure which will be available for projects which meet the new Fast Track quality standard.
If the Examining Authority confirms the Planning Inspectorates provisional decision that an NSIP application is suitable for the Fast Track procedure, this will affect the timing of the stages of the NSIP process and some of the activities during the stages.
See the governments guidance on the Fast-track process for further information.
Summary of how members of the public can take part at each stage
| Stage | Actions |
|---|---|
| Pre-application | Contact the applicant to find out more about the project and how it might impact the local area |
| Ask questions and raise any concerns with the applicant | |
| Attend any meetings or events arranged by the applicant | |
| Respond to the applicants non-statutory and statutory consultation | |
| Send any concerns about how the applicant is carrying out their consultation to the applicant. If there are still concerns these can be sent to the local authority | |
| Acceptance | Members of the public are not involved at this stage |
| Members of the public can use this time to look at the Planning Inspectorates Advice for members of the public - Guidance for submitting representations or comments | |
| Pre-examination | Members of the public must fill out a registration form and make a relevant representation before the deadline if they want to be an interested party |
| Interested parties have a right to have their say and take part in the process. They can also request to speak at the preliminary meeting | |
| Examination | Interested parties can: |
| Submit further written comments if necessary to add to information provided in their relevant representation | |
| Answer the Examining Authoritys questions or requests for further information | |
| Respond to comments or information sent by others | |
| Request to speak at hearings and attend a site inspection | |
| Recommendation | Members of the public are not involved at this stage |
| Decision | Members of the public are not involved at this stage but interested parties may be invited to respond to any consultations which the Secretary of State may carry out |
| Post Decision | At this stage anyone can challenge the way the decision has been made |
Pre-application stage
This is the stage before the applicant submits their NSIP application to the Planning Inspectorate. The applicant will prepare all the detailed documents they must send with their application. The applicant must also carry out wide-ranging public consultation. The applicant must publish a programme document which will indicate when and how they will engage with members of the public and others during the pre-application stage.
The time taken to prepare and consult on a project will depend on how complex it is.
The Statement of Community Consultation
Before an applicant begins their public consultation about a project they must consult local authorities about how they intend to carry out the consultation.
The applicant will prepare a Statement of Community Consultation (SOCC). This is a document which gives information about the applicants communication strategy, including how, where and when there will be an opportunity for members of the public to get involved and make comments.
The applicant will consult the local authorities about their SOCC and consider the responses received. The applicant must publish an advert in a local newspaper that explains where members of the public can view the SOCC.
The applicant must do what they have said they will do in the SOCC.
Further information about the SOCC can be found in the Planning Inspectorates Advice for local authorities.
How members of the public can get involved and have their say at the pre-application stage
Anyone can get involved in the pre-application stage. It is an opportunity to:
- find out more about the project and how it might impact the local area
- ask questions and raise any concerns with the applicant
- influence the project as it evolves. At this stage the applicant can listen to the concerns raised and consider amending the project before they send their application to the Planning Inspectorate.
Local knowledge of the area plays an important role in the pre-application stage. Feedback received may help the applicant to exclude unsuitable options and reduce some of the impacts on the local community where possible.
At this stage the application has not been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate so anyone who wants to get involved and have their say will need to contact the applicant and respond to their consultation.
The applicants website will have information about the project and details of how to contact them.
Consultation
There are two types of consultation:
- non-statutory consultation - this is optional, but the applicant is encouraged to consult local communities as soon as there is enough detail about the project to allow people to have an opportunity to influence it.
- statutory consultation this is required and is usually carried out nearer to the time the application will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. At this stage the project is likely to be more defined, although the applicant should still be able to amend the project based on any consultation feedback.
The information and documents that the applicant provides for consultation need to be clear and informative so that the project can be understood by anyone looking at it. However, it may not be the same information and documents that will