To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect the Infrastructure Planning Commission to announce their first decisions on energy infrastructure projects before May 2010. [HL5992]

It is the Government's intention that the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) will start to accept nationally significant infrastructure applications for energy from 1 March 2010.

Under the Planning Act 2008, the IPC has 28 days to decide whether or not to accept a submitted application. The applicant must give notice to a range of persons of the accepted application, allowing them at least 28 days to make representations. If the application is accepted, the IPC must hold a preliminary meeting. The Government have recently consulted on draft regulations which would require the IPC to give at least 21 days’ notice of a preliminary meeting. The Planning Act sets a timetable for the IPC to complete its examination of the application within six months of the date of the preliminary meeting, and then a further three months for the IPC to issue a decision (or a recommendation to the Secretary of State when a national policy statement has not been designated). The exact time taken by the IPC to make decisions will reflect the nature and complexity of the application.