Legislation – Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025

“Benefits resulting from proximity to new or upgraded transmission infrastructure

38APower to establish scheme for giving of benefits

(1)

The Secretary of State may by regulations establish a scheme under which persons with a specified connection to qualifying premises are entitled to financial benefits provided (directly or indirectly) by electricity suppliers.

(2)

Qualifying premises must be identified by reference to their proximity to qualifying works.

(3)

Qualifying works must involve the construction, erection, expansion or improvement of electrical plant or an electric line that (in either case)—

(a)

is wholly or partly above the ground, and

(b)

forms or is intended to form part of a transmission system.

They may be works that took place before the making of the regulations or the coming into force of this section.

(4)

The regulations may (among other things)—

(a)

make further provision determining, or for the determination of, whether premises or works are qualifying;

(b)

confer functions in connection with the scheme;

(c)

provide for the delegation of functions conferred in connection with the scheme;

(d)

provide for payments by electricity suppliers to meet costs incurred in the carrying out of functions in connection with the scheme;

(e)

provide for the costs of electricity suppliers under the scheme to be distributed among suppliers on such basis, and by such means, as the regulations provide;

(f)

restrict a person’s ability to obtain payment of an amount standing to the credit of the person’s account with an electricity supplier, where that amount derives from benefits under the scheme;

(g)

make provision about cases in which a person who has received benefits under the scheme in respect of premises ceases to be entitled under the scheme in respect of the premises, including provision for the withdrawal or recovery of the benefits;

(h)

make pass-through provision and associated provision (see section 38B);

(i)

make enforcement provision (see section 38C);

(j)

make information provision (see section 38D).

(5)

To the extent that this section enables provision to be made affecting the holders of licences, provision for that purpose may be made by modifying, or empowering or requiring the Authority to modify—

(a)

the conditions of a licence, or

(b)

a document maintained in accordance with the conditions of a licence, or an agreement that gives effect to a document so maintained.

(6)

A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

(7)

A draft laid under subsection (6) is not to be treated as a hybrid instrument for the purposes of the standing orders of either House of Parliament.

(8)

Regulations under this section bind the Crown unless they provide otherwise.

(9)

The Secretary of State may, out of money provided by Parliament, make payments to a person on whom functions are conferred by regulations under this section for the purposes of meeting (or helping to meet) the expenses of carrying out those functions.

38BPassing of benefits to ultimate consumer

(1)

This section applies for the purposes of section 38A(4)(h).

(2)

“Pass-through provision” is provision that—

(a)

applies where—

(i)

one person (“the intermediary”) receives benefits under the scheme in connection with qualifying premises, and

(ii)

another person (“the end-user”) who is not living as part of the same household as the intermediary consumes electricity supplied to the premises, and

(b)

requires the intermediary to pass on the substance of those benefits to the end-user.

(3)

“Associated provision” means provision that relates to pass-through provision and—

(a)

requires intermediaries to take steps to obtain benefits that will be subject to the requirement referred to in subsection (2)(b),

(b)

requires intermediaries to supply information to end-users,

(c)

provides for the making of payments to intermediaries (in addition to the provision of benefits of the sort mentioned in section 38A(1)), or

(d)

provides for the withdrawal or recovery of benefits given or other payments made to intermediaries who fail to comply with the requirement referred to in subsection (2)(b).

(4)

For the purposes of subsection (2)(a)(ii), the cases in which electricity is consumed by a person include those in which the electricity is used to make available to the person heating, cooling, hot water or energy.

38CEnforcement of benefit scheme

(1)

In section 38A(4)(i), “enforcement provision” means—

(a)

provision for the enforcement in civil proceedings of requirements under the scheme,

(b)

provision for a person to impose a monetary penalty where the person is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that—

(i)

a requirement under the regulations has not been complied with, or

(ii)

benefits or other payments under the scheme have been wrongfully obtained, or

(c)

provision for complaints procedures, dispute resolution, adjudication, appeals or redress in connection with the scheme.

(2)

If regulations under section 38A provide for the imposition of monetary penalties, they must provide a right of appeal to a court or tribunal on grounds including both error of fact and error of law.

(3)

The provision that may be made by virtue of subsection (1)(c) includes provision for Part 2 of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (complaints handling and redress schemes) to apply (with or without modifications) to end-user complaints as it applies to consumer complaints within the meaning of that Part.

(4)

In subsection (3), “end-user complaints” means complaints in connection with pass-through provision made by end-users against intermediaries or electricity suppliers (with the definitions in section 38B applying for the purposes of this subsection).

38DDisclosure and use of information in connection with benefit scheme

(1)

In section 38A(4)(j), “information provision” means provision within subsection (2) or (3).

(2)

Provision is within this subsection if it is provision for the disclosure of information or evidence for the purposes of—

(a)

identifying persons entitled to benefits under the scheme,

(b)

identifying qualifying premises or qualifying works,

(c)

checking whether requirements under, or resulting from, the regulations are being or have been complied with,

(d)

checking payments made under the scheme,

(e)

facilitating the performance of functions conferred, or the enforcement of duties imposed, by or as a result of the regulations, or

(f)

evaluating the performance of the scheme.

(3)

Provision is within this subsection if it is provision about the use or further disclosure of information disclosed—

(a)

further to provision within subsection (2), or

(b)

otherwise in connection with the scheme.

(4)

The provision that may be made by virtue of subsection (3) includes provision making it an offence to use or disclose information in an unauthorised manner; but such an offence may not be made punishable by imprisonment.

(5)

Regulations under section 38A that authorise the use or disclosure of information are not to be taken to authorise disclosure or use that would be liable to harm the commercial interests of any person, except to the extent that—

(a)

the regulations otherwise provide, or

(b)

the person disclosing or using the information reasonably considers such disclosure or use necessary in view of the purpose of the regulations.

(6)

Regulations under section 38A do not require or authorise the disclosure or use of information that—

(a)

contravenes the data protection legislation (but this section and the regulations are to be taken into account in determining whether the disclosure or use would contravene that legislation), or

(b)

is prohibited by any of Parts 1 to 7 and Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.

(7)

In subsection (6), “the data protection legislation” has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3 of that Act).”

“(b)

regulations under section 38A.”

“(za)

any provision of regulations under section 38A that is designated in the regulations as a relevant provision for the purposes of this paragraph;”.