All aboard the National Networks National Policy Statement

Angus Walker picture-13This entry reports on the ways that feedback is able to be given on the draft National Networks National Policy Statement.

The National Networks National Policy Statement (NNNPS, a slightly awkward title with repeated words, like Rise of the Planet of the Apes) is a document underpinning the Planning Act regime for road, rail and rail freight projects.

It was published in draft on 4 December 2013, and in common with other NPSs, sets out the need for the infrastructure it covers, how project promoters should deal with various potential impacts in their applications, and how examining authorities and decision-makers should assess them.

Public consultation

Views on the draft NNNPS are invited generally from organisations and individuals with a deadline of 26 February 2014. Responses can be sent by 'snail mail' to the Department for Transport, to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email address, or via an on-line form - details can be found in the consultation document.

Government consultations on previous NPSs included public meetings, and I attended ones on energy, ports and waste water. The energy one was quite well-attended, but the waste water one was decidedly not, with a very high biscuit to attendee ratio.

In this case, the government has decided that the level of public interest does not warrant holding public meetings, but fear not, the National Infrastructure Planning Association (NIPA) is holding three of its own. The meetings are free and open to non-NIPA members (although I would encourage you to join - it's only £75 per year).

Their dates and locations are as follows:

  • 8.30am on 12 February in Manchester,
  • 5pm on 13 February in Bristol, and
  • 5pm on 18 February in London.

For further details and to register to attend, you should contact Sharon Bassom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Parliamentary consultation

Meanwhile, the Transport Select Committee of the House of Commons is carrying out Parliamentary scrutiny of the draft NPS. They have launched their own call for evidence, with the same deadline of 26 February. Details of how to prepare and submit material can be found here.

You can forward them the response you are making to the DfT, but they will only guarantee to publish responses that are directed to themselves. The committee asks its own six questions as follows:

  • Has the Government identified a compelling need for development of the national road and rail networks and of strategic rail freight interchanges?
  • Does Government policy on the development of the national road and rail networks, and the investment programme relating to the road and rail networks, meet that need?
  • Does policy on the development of the networks take appropriate account of environmental, safety, sustainability and accessibility issues as well as the impact of new technology?
  • To what extent does the draft NPS provide clear guidance to the Secretary of State about how to assess schemes?
  • Does it help scheme promoters understand the approach the Secretary of State is likely to take to nationally significant road and rail infrastructure projects?
  • How does the draft NPS relate to other aspects of the Government’s transport strategy, including HS2, and to integration with local transport networks?

For previous NPSs, oral evidence sessions were held by the relevant select committee for representatives of outside bodies to be quizzed on their views of the content of the NPS. The committee web page does not mention this this time, but I would imagine that similar sessions will be held after the 26 February deadline. The effect of the statement made by the transport minister introducing the publication of the draft is that the Commons scrutiny must end by 12 April 2014 (being 39 days before the 'relevant date' in his statement). Any sessions plus time to submit a report will have to be concluded by then.

The House of Lords will also scrutinise the NPS but has not announced any programme for doing so yet.

Analysis

There was a presentation and discussion on the draft NNNPS at a NIPA council meeting on Monday. The four main areas that the DfT would like views on are not too different from the select committee's (by my paraphrasing):

  • is the expression of need in the NPS appropriate?
  • does it strike the right balance between economic, environmental and social objectives?
  • does it provide appropriate guidance to promoters and decision-makers?
  • how well will the NNNPS support scheme development?

The main and nearly only issue raised by those present was none of the above: that the draft was not location-specific, i.e. it doesn't say where the government thinks road, rail or rail freight infrastructure should actually go.

The DfT response was essentially that if it was specific as to where infrastructure would go, it would take a lot longer to produce, might never be produced at all, certainly this side of the general election, and would be of limited value because each scheme would have to be justified separately for funding purposes anyway. It would be better to have what is on offer now rather than waiting for a more detailed document that may never come.

The mood of the meeting was that it might be possible to get some sort of compromise into the document, where there was no precise shopping list of schemes, but general corridors were identified as the key transport links in the country.

I would hope that would be the case: where transport infrastructure actually is is surely its key feature. No doubt this issue and others will be aired in some detail as the scrutiny progresses, all duly reported here.