Judicial reviews and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: what’s changing?

The world of Judicial Review is changing, and hopefully for the better.

The judicial review (JR) landscape for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) is undergoing significant change. Given the importance of NSIPs to the UK’s energy security, housing delivery, transport network and economic growth, the Government has sought to address concerns that unmeritorious legal challenges can cause substantial delay and expense.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, together with accompanying procedural reforms, introduces a number of measures intended to streamline the JR process while preserving access to justice for genuinely arguable claims.

1. Restricting appeals in “totally without merit” cases

Where a JR application challenging a Development Consent Order (DCO) is certified as “totally without merit”, there is no longer a right of appeal to the Court of Appeal. The change, introduced through amendments to the Senior Courts Act 1981, is intended to prevent wholly unmeritorious claims from causing further delay to NSIPs.

2. Civil Procedure Rule changes

A series of amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) are designed to accelerate the determination of NSIP JR claims, including:

a) Significant Planning Court Claims

All NSIP JRs will be designated as Significant Planning Court Claims, ensuring they are heard by specialist judges on an expedited timetable.

b) Removal of the paper permission stage

Challenges to DCO decisions will proceed directly to an oral permission hearing, removing the traditional paper permission stage. This enables the court to assess a claim’s merits at an early stage and, where appropriate, certify it as totally without merit.

c) Accelerated timetables

The revised CPR introduces shortened deadlines for:

• service of pre-permission documents
• filing detailed grounds of defence
• holding oral permission hearings within three weeks of the defendant’s acknowledgement of service
• permission-to-appeal applications made to the Court of Appeal

d) Increased use of Case Management Conferences

Where permission is granted, courts are encouraged to use Case Management Conferences (CMCs) to narrow issues, agree procedural steps and streamline evidence. While not mandatory, CMCs are intended to improve efficiency and case management.

Collectively, these reforms are designed to address one of the principal criticisms of the current NSIP JR regime: that even weak JR claims can cause significant delay and cost. The overarching objective is not to restrict legitimate legal challenge, but to ensure that unmeritorious claims effectively have only “one bite at the cherry”, preventing infrastructure projects from being delayed through repeated and unsuccessful appeals.

The recent challenge to the Stonestreet Green Solar project demonstrates the practical effect of these changes. The claim was certified as totally without merit, allowing a solar project expected to generate enough electricity for approximately 42,000 homes to proceed without the prospect of a further appeal.

Potential for further reform?

The Government’s ambitions may not stop there. 

Following both the Fingleton Review and Lord Banner KC’s review on NSIPs, both of which identified JRs as a significant source of delay for NSIP delivery, the Government launched a consultation in July 2026 proposing a range of additional reforms, including:

a) Parliamentary authorisation

One proposal would enable the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to designate certain projects as being of Critical National Importance. Under the proposal, Parliament would vote on whether a project should receive this status before a DCO is granted. If approved, the resulting DCO would be treated in a manner broadly comparable to primary legislation for the purposes of JR. This would significantly narrow the scope of challenge, with claims largely limited to human rights grounds. If implemented, this would represent one of the most substantial shifts in the relationship between the planning and JR systems in recent decades.

b) Challenge window

The Government is also consulting on the creation of a formal challenge window before a DCO is made. Under this proposal, a draft DCO would be published, allowing interested parties to raise potential legal challenges during a specified period. The Secretary of State can then address these concerns before finalising the DCO. The intention is to flush out potential challenges early and improve decision-making before consent is granted. Any further claims based on issues not raised during the challenge window would then face significant procedural obstacles or potentially be refused altogether.

The government is in the process of canvasing opinions as to the viability of these options.

Could reforms extend beyond NSIPs?

The Government is already considering whether the streamlined NSIP JR process should apply more widely. A consultation was launched on 17 July 2026 seeking views on extending similar measures to decisions made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Transport and Works Act 1992. Think major housing schemes, key transport projects and other infrastructure developments of regional or national importance. The consultation aims to establish whether the delays experienced in the NSIP regime are also present elsewhere in the planning system and whether similar reforms could improve efficiency without undermining access to justice.

Looking ahead

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 marks a clear shift towards a faster and more streamlined JR process for NSIPs. By restricting appeals in totally without merit cases, accelerating timetables and encouraging active case management, the Government hopes to reduce delays to NSIPs while preserving the ability to challenge unlawful decisions.

With further reforms already under consultation, and the possibility of extending the regime beyond NSIPs, the JR landscape may be entering a period of significant change. The current consultation closes on 27 August 2026, and its outcome will be closely watched by developers, public authorities and planning practitioners alike.

Molly Williamson is a Solicitor at Birketts.