UK to cut legal hold-ups to infrastructure projects

Friday, 24 January 2025

"Current excessive rules mean unarguable cases can be brought back to the courts three times – causing years of delay and hundreds of millions of cost to projects that have been approved by democratically elected ministers, while also clogging up the courts," the government said. "Data shows that over half - 58% - of all decisions on major infrastructure were taken to court, getting in the way of the government's central mission to grow the economy, and put more money in hardworking people's pockets."

On average, it said, each legal challenge takes around a year and a half to be resolved – with many delayed for two years or more - and the courts have spent more than 10,000 working days handling these cases.

As an example, it said work on the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project in Suffolk was left uncertain for two years and legal costs increased because of a case lodged by a small group of activists, with the High Court dismissing it and describing aspects as "utterly hopeless".

The government said its new approach "will strike the right balance between ensuring ongoing access to justice and protections against genuine issues of propriety, while pushing back against a challenge culture where small pressure groups use the courts to obstruct decisions taken in the national interest".

Starmer said: "For too long, blockers have had the upper hand in legal challenges - using our court processes to frustrate growth. We're putting an end to this challenge culture by taking on the NIMBYs and a broken system that has slowed down our progress as a nation.

"The current first attempt - known as the paper permission stage - will be scrapped. And primary legislation will be changed so that where a judge in an oral hearing at the High Court deems the case Totally Without Merit, it will not be possible to ask the Court of Appeal to reconsider. To ensure ongoing access to justice, a request to appeal second attempt will be allowed for other cases."

The government has also set out reforms to end the block and delay to building homes and infrastructure from current environmental obligations. A new Nature Restoration Fund would enable developers to meet their environmental obligations more quickly and with greater impact – accelerating the building of homes and improving the environment.

EDF Energy welcomed the proposals to reform the way developers mitigate their environmental impact. The proposals for a strategic nature restoration fund, it said, could find solutions that work for both the environment and local communities, without putting vital new infrastructure at risk. 

"Hinkley Point C has already designed and built significant environmental protections and its clean power will make a major impact in the fight against climate change. For example, Hinkley Point C is the first power station in the Severn to have fish protection measures in place, with a specially designed low velocity cooling water intake system and a fish return system," it said. "However, the current lengthy process to identify and implement acceptable compensation for a small remaining assessed impact on fish has the potential to delay the operation of the power station."

EDF Energy said it is still working with local communities and stakeholders to find solutions that work for both communities and the environment. "We're also reviewing the potential of any innovative technologies to see if they could help us further protect fish without risking the lives of divers in the dangerous waters of the Severn Estuary. Hinkley Point C hopes that government can establish a new framework that manages these current challenges in a more proportionate and effective manner."