With Andy Burnham now in Number 10 and Miatta Fahnbulleh MP confirmed as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the infrastructure sector should be watching closely. This is not simply a change of personnel. It could signal a renewed attempt to connect national delivery ambitions with the local consent, community benefit and land access issues that so often determine whether major projects move at pace.
Fahnbulleh’s appointment is particularly significant because she arrives with a blend of economic policy experience, consumer energy experience and a record of arguing that communities should share more directly in the benefits of the transition. During her previous time in government, the proposed pylon compensation scheme, offering households near new or upgraded transmission infrastructure up to £250 a year for up to 10 years, reflected a broader point: delivery of nationally important infrastructure is becoming inseparable from public trust.
The UK’s clean power, grid reinforcement, transport and water infrastructure ambitions all depend on the same practical reality: Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) need to move through with the consenting and engagement process with less friction than many have experienced to date.
Andy Burnham’s leadership is likely to bring stronger focus to devolution, regional delivery and how communities experience major infrastructure. But the first signals from Number 10 also point to a more complicated fiscal backdrop for net zero delivery. Today’s announcement of a national £2 bus fare cap is politically eye-catching and will land well with voters facing cost-of-living pressures, but the funding model matters: around £454 million is expected to be found from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, including through changes to international climate finance and departmental savings.
That follows earlier pressure on DESNZ-linked budgets after the defence spending debate under Sir Keir Starmer, when capital programmes across energy and infrastructure were reportedly among those revised to help fund increased defence commitments. Taken together, these moves suggest Burnham may be willing to use the DESNZ budget as a source of funding for highly visible voter-facing measures. For developers, investors and promoters of net zero infrastructure, that risks creating a fresh layer of uncertainty at precisely the point where policy stability, grid investment and community confidence are needed most.
Section 172 Latest
Projects looking to secure access to land, where voluntary agreement is not forthcoming should take note. There has been an ongoing challenge to the use of S172notice powers under the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The output of the challenge provides useful guidance and framework for project promotors.
The key takeaway is that detail is important. Notices need to be specific, identifying the relevant surveys and the land affected. They should be served on both owners and occupiers, and promoters should be alive to situations where fixing notice to the land may be necessary after reasonable enquiry. Importantly, notices will not simply continue to run after a change of owner or occupier.
There is also a practical point about reasonableness. A “reasonable time” for entry is case specific and will depend on the nature of the survey and the use of the land; there is no one size fits all.
It is still early days for a new Prime Minister, and the direction of travel may become clearer as the first Budget, departmental settlements and detailed policy decisions emerge. For now, the sector should keep a close watch on how far cost-of-living politics begins to shape net zero funding choices, and tread carefully when assessing delivery timetables, investment assumptions and stakeholder messaging.