My Lords, I was beginning to feel a bit of déjà vu before the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, spoke in place of the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson.

Amendment 94F, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, seeks to ensure that where an energy infrastructure project requires an assessment in relation to the environmental principles policy statement by the Secretary of State or the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, this assessment and any advice provided and considered as part of that assessment is published.

As highlighted throughout today’s debate and in earlier discussions on the Bill, it is essential that we press ahead and deliver the critical infrastructure that we need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and to achieve a clean power system by 2030. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, for tabling this amendment and for the opportunity to set out both how the environmental principles policy statement and the environmental principles more broadly are given due regard by this Government.

The planning process plays a key role in safeguarding the environment. Environmental protections are embedded in planning regulations through mandatory environmental impact assessments and habitat regulation assessments, which ensure that projects are designed and delivered in a way that minimises harm and promotes sustainability. The Secretary of State will carefully consider the environmental impacts of the proposed development, ensuring that potential impacts on environmental receptors are understood and that plans are in place to manage these impacts appropriately before granting consent. These assessments are published as part of the documentation that goes out on the Planning Inspectorate website when a decision is taken.

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.

In respect of planning, the principles apply to policies such as the national policy statements, which set the framework for decision-making on nationally significant energy infrastructure projects under the Planning Act 2008. The Government are currently updating the national policy statements for energy and expect to publish these before the end of 2025. Ministers will therefore give due regard to the environmental principles policy statement when considering updates that have been made to the national policy statements ahead of publication. For these reasons, I kindly ask the noble Baroness to withdraw this amendment.