To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average number of planning applications which will be considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission each year. (202465)

The Planning Bill Impact Assessment, published in November 2007, estimated that the Infrastructure Planning Commission would consider around 45 major infrastructure projects a year. In addition, the May 2007 Planning White Paper made clear that there would also be a larger number of less complex cases, such as works necessary to ensure the operational effectiveness and resilience of the electricity transmission and distribution network.