16.03.2023
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The continued commitment to Levelling Up will see various incentives and funding streams be made available, and will include the creation of Investment Zones and the delivery of a number of regeneration projects across England which will benefit from over £200 million of funding.
There is a welcome focus on energy security and the continued transition to net zero. The Government sees nuclear energy as an important part of the UK’s future energy provision and makes clear its intention to pursue both Small Modular Reactors and large scale projects through the Great British Nuclear programme. Alongside that the Government intend to make available up to £20 billion of funding for the deployment of Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage, which will be a vital technology for the energy and employment industries and which will help generate investment and employment in that sector in coming years.
The Budget highlights the need to continue to deliver new high quality infrastructure across the country. The Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime remains crucial to the delivery of that infrastructure and the recent publication of an Action Plan setting out intended reforms to the regime has been well received by those involved in NSIP projects. Some NSIP applications continue to be hampered by the long overdue need to review the oldest National Policy Statements, which include those relating to energy, and the Budget commits to bringing those reviews forward and to ensure that those are more regular in the future.
The mention in the Budget of nutrient neutrality will come as welcome news to developers across the country. Those nutrient neutrality issues continue to prevent the delivery of a considerable amount of housing, estimated to be some 120,000 homes, and to date whilst support has been made available we have yet to see that really come to fruition to begin unlocking that stalled development.
The Budget is encouraging local authorities to address those issues by announcing further funding support for locally led nutrient mitigation schemes, which will hopefully provide the necessary impetus to get workable solutions established.
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