Starmer takes on the NIMBYs: PM to tackle infrastructure 'blockers' by cutting legal challenge options

23 January 2025, 00:50

Infrastructure "blockers" will have fewer chances to "frustrate growth" through repeated legal challenges, the Prime Minister has said.

Sir Keir said he would end a "challenge culture" that saw major projects such as nuclear power plants, wind farms and roads delayed by unarguable bids for judicial review.

The changes will prevent "cynical" or "hopeless" cases causing delays and increasing the cost of infrastructure projects, No10 said.

Those opposing projects currently have three opportunities to secure permission for a judicial review: firstly by writing to the High Court, then in an oral hearing and finally by asking the Court of Appeal.

However, under plans announced by the PM on Thursday, the written stage will be scrapped and any cases deemed "totally without merit" will be unable to ask the Court of Appeal to reconsider.

Read more: Angela Rayner to give mayors the power to stop planning delays as Labour continues war on nimbys

Read more: Labour to slash powers of councils in bid to unclog planning and bypass NIMBYs

"For too long, blockers have had the upper hand in legal challenges - using our court processes to frustrate growth," Sir Keir said.

"We're putting an end to this challenge culture by taking on the NIMBYs and a broken system that has slowed down our progress as a nation.

"This is the Government's Plan for Change in action - taking the brakes off Britain by reforming the planning system so it is pro-growth and pro-infrastructure."

The Government has already committed to making 150 major infrastructure project decisions by the next election, and on Wednesday announced changes to environmental protection rules to speed up building work.

It follows a 2024 review by planning lawyer Lord Charles Banner, who recommended streamlining the judicial review process so claimants had "fewer bites of the cherry" when seeking permission to bring a case.

The review found that around a third of applications for judicial review of major projects were refused permission to proceed entirely, although it was not clear how many had been deemed "totally without merit".

Lord Banner said he was "pleased to see the Government acting on the back of my review", adding that "reducing the number of permission attempts to one for truly hopeless cases should weed out the worst offenders".

Shadow communities secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: "While we welcome the Government taking forward Conservative initiatives to streamline the planning system, Labour's blocking of our efforts to cut EU legacy red tape, such as nutrient neutrality, so they can align more closely with the European Union will hold Britain back."

He also accused ministers of having "sat on their hands" on implementing measures to cut bureaucracy, adding that reorganising local councils was "hardly a recipe for accelerating decision-making".