Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist on 2 April (HL2957), whether the Planning Inspectorate will accept Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project applications, including those for Sizewell C nuclear plant, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Planning Inspectorate is continuing to receive applications for Development Consent Orders for nationally significant infrastructure projects, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic. The Inspectorate has published guidance on how it will continue to carry out its duties under the Planning Act 2008 in respect of Development Consent Order applications. We are encouraging developers to consider pragmatic ways of adhering to the requirements on them in these exceptional circumstances to support the continuation of decision-making.

The application for the Sizewell C proposals is due to be submitted in May 2020. When an application is received the Planning Inspectorate have a period of up to 28 days to decide whether or not the application meets the satisfactory standards required to be accepted for examination.