150 Major Infrastructure Decisions by End of Parliament

Commitment: Make 150 major planning decisions for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) by the end of this Parliament.

Owner: MHCLG / Planning Inspectorate

Target date: End of Parliament (expected 2029)

Metric: Number of NSIP Development Consent Orders (DCOs) determined.

Status: active

Context

Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) — including large energy projects, major transport schemes, water infrastructure, and large housing developments — require a Development Consent Order from the Planning Inspectorate. The decision is then made by the relevant Secretary of State.

The pre-application and examination stages for NSIPs averaged 27 months in 2021 (up from 14 months in 2013 — nearly doubled). The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 reforms the NSIP process to speed up examination timescales.

The 150 decisions target signals the government’s commitment to accelerating major infrastructure consent — though the target covers decisions made, not project construction starts.

What “150 decisions” means

A decision means a DCO determination (approve or refuse) — it does not mean construction has started or that the project will be delivered within the Parliament. Some of the 150 decisions may be refusals; most will be approvals that then enter a construction phase.

Key tension

planning-timelines-2030-targets: The PIA 2025 reform and the 150 decisions target address planning consent speed. But the construction and delivery timeline for major infrastructure means that projects consented in 2026-2027 may not be complete until well after 2030. For energy infrastructure specifically, this tension is acute.

Connection to Clean Power 2030

The 80 critical network and infrastructure projects identified in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan will need to go through the reformed NSIP process. Their progress through the 150 decisions pipeline will be a leading indicator of Clean Power 2030 delivery confidence.