Select committee: Energy Security and Net Zero Committee
Conclusion 9
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 ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We acknowledge the concern that strategic plans should not predetermine the outcome of any application for development consent. However, neither should the planning system be blind to the very existence of such plans and, most importantly, to their possible impact on the prospects of a project securing a grid connection. It would undermine the purpose of strategic plans if the Secretary of State were unable to take them into account in the planning balance. • The National Policy Statements should clearly recognise, as a material consideration, the regional and zonal capacities for different technologies specified in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan. • The National Policy Statements should clearly recognise, as a material consideration, the optimal areas for different technologies identified in the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan. (Recommendation, Paragraph 32)
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.