The government has announced it will cut the amount of time it takes for judicial reviews to move through the court system for nationally significant infrastructure projects in a bid to deliver more major schemes.

Citing the delay for Sizewell C, the government has said the reforms will benefit roads, reservoirs, airports and railways, significantly cut down on the time it takes for judicial reviews to be resolved as well as reduce the costs associated with cases.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government’s planning reforms “are set to benefit the economy by up to £7.5bn over the next 10 years”, while housing secretary Steve Reed said it was “clear the system is being abused by those who want to stop progress at any cost”.

This announcement comes as part of a pro-planning policy blitz the government has committed to ahead of the Budget. In addition to new planning reforms announced earlier this week, it believes these changes will allow for faster decision making on a range of major projects.

A record 21 decisions have been made on major infrastructure projects in the first year of government.  These include greenlighting of the Lower Thames Crossing, the Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm off the Sussex coast and the Simister Island development outside Bury.

Richard Whitehead, AECOM’s regional CEO for Europe and India, said: “The government faces urgent challenges in delivering infrastructure fast enough to meet the ambitions outlined in the infrastructure strategy and drive growth. Speeding up project delivery will be a key element to ensuring the highest return on the planned infrastructure pipeline.

“This approach has other benefits, namely it can be applied across sectors and play a critical role in achieving 2030 clean energy goals. The UK’s consenting process can be subject to legal challenge which can cause substantial delays to projects resulting in scheme benefits not being realised within anticipated timescales as well as rising costs to the exchequer.

“The government has been making commendable progress with its planning reform agenda, and the focus must now be on ensuring the reforms can translate into success through effective implementation and adequate resourcing. We commend any moves that can lead to faster approvals whilst also maintaining environmental and community safeguards.”

“Changes announced today to the judicial review process will be critical to successful delivery of the government’s 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy and clean energy 2030 target within the timeframes set out.”

Claudio Tassistro, managing director energy, Europe at Mott MacDonald, said changes to the judicial review process will be “critical” to sucessful delivery of the government’s 10-year Infrastructure Strategy and clean energy 2030 target within the timeframes set out. 

“Removing blockers in the planning process will create more clarity over our pipeline of work, which in turn will give greater certainty about both job security and the skills needed now and in the longer term,” he added.

“However, the changes create a significant responsibility for everyone working in the infrastructure sector too. Ensuring the needs of all stakeholders are considered carefully during the early stages of major infrastructure projects going forward will be essential to strike the balance between national and local needs.”