Revised ports policy tilts planning further towards approval

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The government has published a revised National Policy Statement for Ports that strengthens the presumption in favour of approving major port developments, in a move welcomed by the industry as providing greater certainty for investment. The amended statement was laid before Parliament on 6 July by Keir Mather, the Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation Minister, and sets the framework against which decisions on nationally significant port infrastructure in England are made. It replaces the original 2012 statement, which the government judged to have fallen out of step with a decade of change in policy, technology and the wider economy.

What has changed

The National Policy Statement guides how the Planning Inspectorate and ministers assess Development Consent Orders, the route through which nationally significant infrastructure is approved. The revised version introduces a clearer presumption in favour of granting consent for port projects, gives stronger recognition to ports as a foundational industry, and is expected to shorten examination and decision timelines, particularly for deep-water berths, container terminals and the road and rail links that serve them. It retains the long-standing market-led approach, using the Department for Transport’s port freight demand forecasts, published to 2050 alongside the draft, as a reference point rather than a cap on commercial decisions. The government has also committed to reviewing National Policy Statements more regularly so they do not again drift from current policy.

How it was scrutinised

The revised statement follows a consultation on earlier drafts and scrutiny by the House of Commons Transport Committee, which reported in November 2025. The Committee found the evidence to its inquiry broadly supportive of the direction of travel, welcoming the continued presumption in favour of development and the market-led model, while recommending changes to make the final document more robust against legal challenge. Among its recommendations were that non-freight activities be included in port demand forecasts, and that the role of ports in enabling offshore energy be recognised through Critical National Priority status. Mather’s July statement presented the government’s formal response to that report. The final proposed text is now subject to a parliamentary consideration period of 21 sitting days before the statement can be formally adopted, with a post-adoption statement to follow.

The wider picture

The change sits within a broader government push to speed up consent for major infrastructure, echoing parallel revisions to the energy and airports policy statements. Ports bodies have framed the revised statement as long-overdue clarity for operators and investors planning multi-decade projects, particularly those tied to offshore wind and the wider energy transition. Set against that, commentators including New Civil Engineer have noted the need to balance faster planning against robust environmental safeguards and community consultation, to avoid adverse effects on coastal ecosystems and residents. How that balance is struck will now depend on how the presumption is applied in individual Development Consent Order examinations, and on whether the strengthened wording reduces the legal challenges that have slowed infrastructure consents in recent years.

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