Member

Under the Environment Act 2021, Ministers are under a legal duty to give regard to the environmental principles policy statement when making policy decisions. The duty is not designed to capture individual regulatory planning or licensing decisions made by Ministers or authorities acting on their behalf. Indeed, they are specifically excluded from the duty. Therefore, decisions made by the Secretary of State on whether development consent should be granted to nationally significant energy infrastructure projects are not subject to the environmental principles policy statement duty, nor does the duty apply to the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority in respect of individual regulatory decisions.