Advice to Centrica Thermal Projects Group

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Enquiry

From
Centrica Thermal Projects Group
Date advice given
24 November 2011
Enquiry type
Email

Please can you confirm if the new name for the IPC is the National Infrastructure Directive

Advice given

Thank you for email. The IPC will not have a new name. It is to be abolished in April 2012. The Planning Act 2008 regime will continue, but decisions on DCO applications will be made by the relevant Secretary of State, with the functions of the IPC's secretariat passing to the Planning Inspectorate which is an executive agency of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The provisional structure for the Planning Inspectorate in 2012 makes those functions the responsibility of a National Infrastructure Directorate, but this is just the internal management structure and not a new name for the organisation. Following the abolition of the IPC, DCO applications will be made to the Planning Inspectorate.

In a practical sense, much of the expertise and assets of the IPC will transfer to the Planning Inspectorate, and the procedural aspects of how applications are made and processed will not be greatly changed. We are hopeful that our customers will be minimally affected by the transition.