Implement statutory timelines for environmental permitting
Statutory timelines for environmental permitting
Implement statutory timelines for environmental permitting. The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 should be amended to:
- Require all applications have a time limit for decision-making no longer than 42 days (and this should not, as is currently the case, be a basis for prolonging the pre-application stage).
- Limit mutually agreed extensions to a single extension of 56 days. If no permit has been granted in this timeframe, the applicant should have the right to appeal to the Secretary of State, who must decide within 30 days.
Government Response: Statutory permitting timelines rejected
The Taskforce recommended amending the Environmental Permitting Regulations to impose a statutory 42-day decision deadline with a single 56-day extension and appeal rights. The Government explicitly declined to legislate statutory timelines, arguing they "can lead to unintended outcomes." Instead, it is pursuing operational improvements including exempting low-risk activities from permitting, modernising the permitting process, a Priority Tracked Service for nuclear, a digital platform, and a Lead Environmental Regulator pilot. While these are welcome practical improvements, the absence of any hard statutory backstop means permitting delays lack a binding remedy, significantly weakening the original recommendation.
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Taskforce target: December 2027
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