After the uncertainty and political turbulence in the UK of recent years, it may be that we have entered a somewhat calmer period, domestically if not internationally.
I certainly hope so, in which case it is vital that we use this time to get to grips with some of the fundamental challenges that can put the Scottish and British economies on a path to higher growth, and that we do it right. A faster-growing economy means a virtuous cycle of more buoyant tax revenues, which in turn help to support well-funded public services.
The good news is that we can surely build a consensus that this is where we want to get to as a country. It should also be helpful that much of the means of getting there – while critically important – is also relatively mundane, and therefore needn’t degenerate into the kind of polarised rows we have seen over some other issues in recent years.
Top of the list for me is planning reform. If people find it hard to get excited about what can be a dry subject, I hope we can all be enthused about what it can unlock: a greater pace and flow of investment, the building of infrastructure that the country needs, work for local supply chains, a favourable business environment that attracts inward investors, including in manufacturing – all ultimately supporting good-quality jobs.
For electricity infrastructure, reform of the planning system is essential if we are to achieve security of energy supply and deliver on our clean power and net zero targets in Scotland and across the UK.
SSEN Transmission owns, operates and develops the high-voltage electricity transmission system in the north of Scotland – the pylons, overhead lines, subsea cabling and underground routing that move power from where the renewable resources are to the towns, cities and villages where the demand is. As a business, we are investing over £20bn this decade to deliver grid infrastructure investment that will unlock targets for a clean power system by 2030, strengthen energy security and support the pathway to a net zero economy.
The existing consenting regime in Scotland is well past its sell-by date, and now presents the biggest risk to the delivery of this programme. Reform is crucial if a decarbonised electricity system by the end of the decade is to be met.
Therefore, the UK Government’s recent publication of a consultation on Scottish consenting reform for electricity infrastructure was extremely welcome. It will inform the approach of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is viewed as the appropriate legislative vehicle to make amendments to the Electricity Act 1989 for the purpose of streamlining and making the consenting process more efficient.
An equally welcome development is that this consultation is in effect a joint initiative of the UK and Scottish governments, with the two administrations working ‘as one’ in this area. Business isn’t slow to criticise politicians when we think (fairly or unfairly) that they are indulging in petty point-scoring. We should be just as quick to offer praise when we see them working pragmatically and enthusiastically on shared interests, across party and constitutional divides. I’m an optimist, and hope it’s a sign of things to come more generally.
By way of explaining why we need joint working between Holyrood and Westminster to reform planning, transmission projects are developed based on evidence of need, as recommended by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and independently assessed by the regulator, Ofgem.
They are developed in line with established UK and Scottish government legislation, including community consultation, environmental policies, Scotland’s National Planning Framework (NPF4), and legal obligations of our operating license.
Overhead lines in Scotland are consented through the Section 37 consents process, which is governed by Westminster’s Electricity Act. Although energy is largely reserved to the UK Government, the role of consenting S37 projects falls under the devolved responsibility of the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU), with Local Planning Authorities being statutory consultees along with other relevant bodies and community groups.
The prize of planning reform is a robust, timely and proportionate process, which meaningfully involves local communities.
Planning delays for electricity transmission projects are in no-one’s interests, not least because of the uncertainty caused to communities, and also for the sake of local jobs and investment, and of course the delivery of critical national infrastructure.
We recognise the importance of effective community liaison, and have a track record of going beyond what is required for public consultation and taking on board alternative suggestions for overhead lines and substation locations.
A centrepiece of reform should be that determination periods are timebound to 12 months, in line with commitments made by the Scottish Government in its Green Industrial Strategy, whether or not a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) is instituted. And as a confidence-building measure, this ought to be underpinned by legislation. At present, there is no legally binding timeframe for the latest point at which a decision on consent applications can be expected.
As currently drafted, Section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 means that a Public Local Inquiry is automatically triggered if the local planning authority committee objects to a project, even if it complies with Scottish planning policy and is recommended to receive consent by the local planning authority’s own planning officer. This results in lengthy, resource-intensive and costly PLIs in cases where the final determination is in little or no doubt. For the sake of consistency, it would be sensible for this automaticity to be removed from the process, and for a decision on whether or not a transmission project should go to a PLI to sit with the Scottish Ministers.
In the case of the Beauly-Denny transmission project, it took nearly four-and-a-half years for consent to be granted, and the problem of delay has continued elsewhere.
By marketing the nation as a good place to do business, Scotland can be a magnet for green jobs and investment to transmit our vast wind and other renewable energy resources. The construction of Sumitomo Electric’s state-of-the-art subsea transmission cable factory at Nigg is testament to the scale of our opportunity. Planning reform can power the way.
Rob McDonald is Managing Director of SSEN Transmission.