Select committee: Energy Security and Net Zero Committee
Recommendation 4
2nd Report - Gridlock or growth? Avoiding energy planning chaos
Published 7 Jul 2025
Addressed to Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Energy Security and Net Zero Committee National planning for energy infrastructure All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Given that the Government, in its Planning and Infrastructure Bill, is seeking to disapply the current requirement for the Secretary of State to respond to any resolutions made by a committee in either House of Parliament, we recommend that the Government, in future, ensures that: a. Select Committees are provided with at least ten sitting weeks in which to consider future National Policy Statements and proposed amendments to an existing NPS, b. this period should never commence before the conclusion of the department’s related public consultation process, and c. Parliament has a period of at least ten sitting days, in which consideration of the recommendations of a Select Committee can take place, before the NPS or amended NPS is designated by the relevant Secretary of State. (Recommendation, Paragraph 9) The new strategic framework for energy infrastructure planning
From: Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, 2nd Report - Gridlock or growth? Avoiding energy planning chaos (HC 868), 7 July 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 19 November 2025 (deadline 7 September 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response says it will provide sufficient time for committee scrutiny of future NPS updates, but it "cannot commit" to a minimum review period, and it sets out amendments and positions on the Committee's wider recommendations.
- On scrutiny timing, the government "notes" the Committee's concerns and says it will "ensure early liaison with Committee" in future NPS reviews, but cannot commit to a minimum review period.
- On Critical National Priority infrastructure, it has amended EN-1, replacing "material reduction" with "significant reduction" and adding that exceptional circumstances may "warrant a small reduction in generation capacity and function".
- On the Centralised Strategic Network Plan, it agrees to remove the term "strategic solution" but will maintain "indicative routes" and "strategic parameters".
- On distribution infrastructure, it has consulted on removing 132kV wooden poles from the NSIP regime and "will respond in due course"; any threshold change would need secondary legislation.