The Government issued a press release on 2 July this year promising the fastest infrastructure planning in a generation as procedural rules for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) are overhauled, “putting the Government on track to exceed its target of at least 150 major infrastructure decisions in this Parliament”.
For reasons which may seem obvious given its inherent local (or regional) focus, light rail falls outside the scope of the Planning Act 2008 and there is no qualifying threshold at which light rail becomes nationally significant for the purposes of the development consent order (DCO) process. It follows that the widely publicised raft of reforms to the DCO regime introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (2025 Act) which are intended to make it more flexible, proportionate, and responsive do not apply to tram or guided busway schemes.
Less noise has been made about amendments made by the 2025 Act to streamline and improve the Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) regime, which are also to be welcomed, as well as the radical change to TWAO decision-making anticipated as a result of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (EDCE Act).
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