The Government has confirmed that the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) will be abolished before it has been able to determine applications. The IPC was established by the Labour administration to determine applications for major infrastructure projects across the country. The Coalition Government signalled their early opposition to the IPC as not having democratic legitimacy for its decisions. The Government will now require all decisions on major infrastructure projects to be determined directly by ministers. The processing of these applications will be assessed by a new part of the Planning Inspectorate. It is debatable whether, in reality, this change will make a fundamental difference to the way decisions will be reached. The IPC will effectively, therefore, be retained in all but name.

National Policy Statements (NPS) identifying strategic principles for infrastructure development will continue to be developed, maintaining the process commenced by the previous administration. The process was developed in response to concerns over delays in determining applications, the most high profile example being Terminal 5 at Heathrow. The contents of NPSs are currently under review but publication is expected soon. The key change to the process is that all NPSs will need ratifying by ministers, giving them democratic legitimacy. The Government have at least signalled continuity in terms of the approach to nationally important infrastructure projects