The government publishes the Planning and Infrastructure Bill

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, central to the government’s plan to get Britain building again and deliver economic growth, was introduced to parliament on 11 March 2025.

The Bill aims to speed up and streamline the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure. It will support the delivery of the government’s Plan for Change milestones of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England and fast-tracking 150 planning decisions on major economic infrastructure projects by the end of this parliament. It will also support the delivery of the government’s Clean Power 2030 target by ensuring that key clean energy projects are built as quickly as possible.

Measures contained in the Bill aim to:

• Introduce a strategic planning system for England.
• Deliver a more efficient and predictable system for energy infrastructure projects. This includes establishing a bill discount scheme for those closest to the new electricity transmission infrastructure. New guidance will also show how developers should ensure communities hosting transmission infrastructure can benefit by funding projects like sports clubs, educational programmes, or leisure facilities.
• Unlock land and secure public value for large-scale investment through reforms to the compulsory purchase order (CPO) process and compensation rules. This includes allowing parish and town councils to acquire land at existing use value when using CPO powers to deliver affordable social housing in their areas, where the direction is justified in the public interest. Our response to the government's recent consultation welcomed this proposal.
• Clauses 83 – 92 (Part 5) make reforms to the CPO process and compensation rules – these were outlined in the recent government consultation to which we responded. We are delighted to confirm that the government listened to our ask to extend the existing Section 15A of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 power to remove hope value from compensation by directions (introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023) where town, parish or community councils are compulsorily purchasing land for affordable or social housing.
• Improve certainty and decision-making in the planning system, including introducing a new delegation scheme to modernise local planning committees, mandatory training for planning committee councillors, and enabling the cost recovery of planning fees.
• Streamline and improve the efficiency of delivering transport infrastructure projects. This includes changing the street works approval process to accelerate the installation of electric vehicle public charge points.
• Provide for a faster and more certain consenting process for critical infrastructure and strengthen the policy framework around National Policy Statements (NPSs).
• Introduce a more strategic approach to nature recovery in relation to development. This will enable developers to fund restoration more efficiently through a new Nature Restoration Fund while securing improved outcomes for the environment.

We will continue to assess the bill and its implications for parish and town councils and engage with the government and parliament during its passage.