The Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my noble Friend Lord Callanan, has today made the following statement:

This statement concerns an application for development consent made under the Planning Act 2008 by Orsted Hornsea Project Four Ltd for the construction and operation of an offshore wind farm, located approximately 69 km offshore, to the east of Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make a decision on an application within three months of the receipt of the examining authority’s report unless exercising the power under section 107(3) of the Act to set a new deadline. Where a new deadline is set, the Secretary of State must make a statement to Parliament to announce it. The current statutory deadline for the decision on the Hornsea Project Four offshore wind farm application is 22 February 2023.

A decision has been made to set a new deadline of no later than 12 July 2023 for deciding this application. This is to enable my Department to seek further information from the applicant and to ensure there is sufficient time to allow for consideration of this information by other interested parties.

The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

[HCWS552]