Planning Bill

Having listened to many hours of debate it is a great pleasure to discuss a very important part of the Bill, which sets the thresholds for the new national arrangements. I shall speak to a number of the government amendments and then address the other amendments in the group. The first set of government amendments relates to the introduction of a new category of project into the definition of ““nationally significant infrastructure project””; specifically, major pipelines constructed by a licensed ““gas transporter””. My noble friend Lord Berkeley rightly asked me to define what that means. My understanding is that a gas transporter is a holder of a gas transporter licence issued under the Gas Act 1986, as amended. The Gas Act requires any person who conveys gas to certain—in practice, nearly all—premises in Great Britain, or into a pipeline of another gas transporter, either to hold a gas transporter licence or to be covered by an exemption from the requirement to hold a gas transporter licence. I should make it clear to my noble friend that the main gas transporter is National Grid Gas, which owns and operates the national transportation system for gas in Great Britain. The owners and operators of the gas distribution networks in Great Britain also hold gas transporter licences. The three independent distribution networks in addition to National Grid Gas are Scotia Gas Networks, Wales & West Utilities and Northern Gas Networks. I hope that helps my noble friend. Government Amendment No. 131 inserts a new clause that sets out the conditions for when such a pipeline project will be considered a nationally significant infrastructure project, and so be determined by the IPC. The pipeline must be wholly or partly in England, must be more than 800mm in diameter and more than 40km in length; or the construction is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. The proposed pipeline will have a design operating pressure of more than 7 bar gauge and it must be expected to supply at least 50,000 customers. Government Amendment No. 116 updates Clause 14 to reflect the new category of project. Government Amendments Nos. 117, 132, 134, 169, 289, 336, 402, 403 and 459 are consequential amendments to ensure that the existing pipeline provisions do not unintentionally apply to the new clause. This is important as these provisions extend to Wales and, for cross-border oil and gas pipelines, Scotland. Amendments Nos. 130, 394, 404 and 455 are further changes to tidy up the Bill’s drafting, as we would otherwise need to define ““gas transporter”” in a large number of clauses throughout the Bill. Instead the term is now defined in Clause 220. The Government consider gas importation, storage and transmission to be key components of this country’s infrastructure. This is already reflected in the range of projects set out in Clause 14. Pipelines constructed by a gas transporter, while mentioned in the planning White Paper were, however, omitted. This was because this type of project currently benefits from permitted development rights and we did not feel it necessary to include them in the new regime. However, in the other place it was suggested that gas transporter pipelines ought to be included in the new regime as they are critical to the transport of national gas supplies and many of the larger pipelines still need consent from the Secretary of State for other matters such as environmental impact assessment and other ancillary works along the pipeline. Including those projects in the new regime would eliminate the need for multiple consents across different decision-makers, which is consistent with the whole intent of the Bill. My colleague Ministers examined this matter over the summer, including in discussions with industry, and we now bring to the Committee the proposal that large gas transporter pipelines should be included in the new regime. The threshold established through Amendment No. 131 will ensure that only the most significant projects are captured. In the light of the decline of North Sea gas production and the increasing dependence on imports, I hope that noble Lords will agree that those projects are of national significance and should be included in the new regime. I understand that in previous debates in your Lordships’ House and in the other place on the Bill, there have been concerns over what has been described as the ““mission creep”” of the IPC. I hope therefore that noble Lords and Members of the other place will be reassured by the Government’s other amendments in Committee, which aim to reduce the IPC’s caseload. In particular, we are removing the less complex electricity line cases via Amendment No. 129, which I will come to now. Clause 16 sets out when the installation of an electric line above ground will be a nationally significant infrastructure project; that is, projects with a nominal voltage exceeding 20 kilovolts. That was set to be consistent with the Electricity Act 1989. During consultation on the planning White Paper, the Government invited views on whether a line could be drawn between national and local electricity line projects. As responses to this question did not suggest any specific alternatives, the Government proposed at the introduction of the Planning Bill that all current electricity line cases be transferred to the IPC. The Government have, however, listened to concerns raised by stakeholders and in debate in the other place. As a result, the Government feel that it would be appropriate to raise to 132 kilovolts the threshold for when an electricity line project will be considered by the IPC. Amendment No. 129 therefore changes Clause 16 so that the only overhead line projects that will constitute a nationally significant infrastructure project for the purpose of the Bill are those relating to the development of long-distance transmission lines and the very largest distribution lines. We hope that the amendment goes a long way to addressing some of the concerns that have been expressed and will ensure that the IPC deals only with those electricity lines that are of national significance.