Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that reforms to planning permission are matched by improvements to the processes for acquiring land and rights over land, so that grid connection projects are not delayed by unresolved land rights issues.

DESNZ has worked closely with stakeholders to understand the extent to which current land access, rights and consents processes delay and add costs to rollout of electricity network infrastructure required for delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating the UK’s transition to Net zero.

This has included looking at where there might be opportunities to learn from approaches to other utilities.

Government’s assessment was set out in a consultation in Summer 2025 on proposed reforms to these processes. We expect to publish the response in the coming quarter.