Labour hands SNP power to speed up roll-out of wind farms across Scottish countryside
The rollout of more wind farms across Scotland's countryside is to be hugely accelerated under new legislation agreed by Labour and SNP ministers.
Michael Shanks, the UK energy minister, said that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill would 'slash' the time it takes for developers to gain approval to erect wind turbines and electricity pylons.
The Labour MP for Rutherglen said that the legislation would cut 'excessive' and 'costly' delays of up to four years and reduce 'the need for costly, lengthy public inquiries'.
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it was working with SNP ministers to update 'outdated planning rules' in Scotland that were holding back large energy developments.
But the Tories have accused Labour and the SNP of conspiring 'to ride roughshod over local opinion' opposing more wind farms being erected in Scotland.
They claimed both the UK and Scottish governments were 'completely disconnected when it comes to realising the impact railroading through certain projects'.
Scotland had an installed capacity of over 10.1GW in onshore wind that generated 4,528GWh in the third quarter of 2024. This forms almost two thirds of the UK-wide total of about 15.5GW.
But SNP ministers have introduced a new target for a minimum installed capacity of 20GW by 2030, doubling the current operational total north of the border.
Their latest planning framework relaxed controls on building more turbines, with protections watered down for unspoiled wild land.
The SNP wind power target also included replacing existing turbines that may be coming to the end of their working life with even taller and larger versions, a process called 'repowering'.
Currently, it can take up to four years to approve large electricity infrastructure projects in Scotland, such as power lines and onshore wind farms, under UK legislation that has been in place since 1989.
This is about double the delay for new large electricity projects in England and Wales, and the new Bill aims to drastically reduce the timescale in Scotland.
Mr Shanks said: 'These much-needed reforms to Scotland's outdated planning rules will slash the time it takes to approve clean electricity projects while ensuring local voices are heard at an earlier stage – helping deliver our Plan for Change and build an energy system that can bring down bills for good.
'These reforms will end avoidable delays by making the application process more efficient and reducing the need for costly, lengthy public inquiries which hold up the clean power projects we need to deliver more renewable electricity and strengthen our energy security.'
But Douglas Lumsden, the Scottish Tories' shadow net zero and energy secretary, said: 'Communities up and down Scotland will be dismayed that Labour and the SNP are working hand in hand and continuing with their proposals to ride roughshod over local opinion.
'Both governments are completely disconnected when it comes to realising the impact railroading through certain projects would have on rural Scotland in particular.
'It is typical of them to believe they know best and it confirms this so-called consultation was nothing more than a tick-box exercise.'
The legislation gives SNP ministers new powers to allow the Scottish Government to revoke or vary planning consents for energy infrastructure projects under specific circumstances.
This will allow for changes to be made without the developer having to restart the process. Objectors will only have six weeks to appeal a decision to give an application the green light.
However, there is a requirement that developers must 'engage' with local communities before submitting an application to the Scottish Government.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Rachel Reeves in stand-off over policing and council budgets days before spending review
Rachel Reeves has been locked in a standoff over the policing and council budgets just days before this week's spending review, which is set to give billions to the NHS, defence and technology. Yvette Cooper's Home Office and Angela Rayner's housing and local government ministry were the two departments still at the negotiating table on Sunday fighting for more cash, after weeks of trying to reach a settlement. Whitehall sources said the policing budget would not face a real terms cut, but there was still disagreement over the level of investment needed for the Home Office to meet its commitments. Rayner's department is understood to have reached an agreement with the Treasury late on Sunday night after last-minute wrangling over housing, local councils and growth funds. However, any failure to strike a deal would raise the prospect of a budget being imposed on an unwilling department. The spending review, taking place on Wednesday, is a chance for Reeves to hold up billions of pounds of capital spending as a sign she is working to repair public services after years of Tory austerity. After tweaking her fiscal rules last autumn, she has an additional £113bn funded by borrowing for capital spending. Her plans will include £86bn for science and technology across four years and an extra £4.5bn for schools – taking funding per pupil to its highest level ever. However, day-to-day spending is more constrained in some areas, while the NHS and defence swallow up higher allocations. As well as policing, the Home Office budget covers the border force and spending on asylum costs, while the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been battling for funds for the affordable homes programme, councils, homelessness and regional growth. Labour has manifesto pledges to build 1.5m homes and deliver 13,000 new police officers. Pressed on the policing budget, the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, said Home Office and others would have to 'do their bit'. Funding for the police has the potential to become a politically difficult issue for Keir Starmer. Tory former shadow cabinet minister Robert Jenrick has been campaigning against transport fare dodging and Nigel Farage's Reform are also highlighting the issue. Asked about which public services will be prioritised, Kyle said 'every part of our society is struggling' and numerous sectors had asked Reeves for more money. 'On the fact that the police have been writing to the chancellor, they have,' he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. 'We also have letters from the universities, we have letters from doctors about the health service, we have letters from campaigners for child poverty writing to us, and other aspects of challenges in Britain at the moment. 'Every part of our society is struggling because of the inheritance that we had as a country and as a government.' He pointed to the £1.1bn extra funding already earmarked for police this year, as he defended Reeves's handling of the spending review process. 'We expect the police to start embracing the change they need to do, to do their bit for change as well. We are doing our bit,' Kyle said. 'You see a chancellor that is striving to get investment to the key parts of our country that needs it the most … You will see the priorities of this government reflected in the spending review, which sets the departmental spending into the long term. 'But this is a partnership. Yes, the Treasury needs to find more money for those key priorities, but the people delivering them need to do their bit as well.' While some areas of spending may be cut or receive only low increases, the NHS is set to receive a boost of up to £30bn by 2028, while defence spending is expected to rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. Kyle defended the chancellor's approach to public spending, saying she was like Apple founder Steve Jobs who turned the company around when it was 90 days from insolvency. He told Sky News's Trevor Phllips: 'Now Steve Jobs turned it around by inventing the iMac, moving to a series of products like the iPod. 'Now we're starting to invest in the vaccine processes of the future. Some of the hi-tech solutions that are going to be high growth. We're investing in our space sector. All these really high, highly innovative sectors. 'We are investing into those key innovations of the future. We know that we cannot break this vicious cycle of high tax and low growth by doing the same as we always have done. We have to innovate our way out of this and we are doing so by investing in those high-growth sectors.'
Scottish Sun
31 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Nigel Farage U-turns on plan to scrap all MSPs and put Scottish MPs in Holyrood instead
The Reform UK leader once wanted a watered down parly when he bossed the Ukip party U-TURN Nigel Farage U-turns on plan to scrap all MSPs and put Scottish MPs in Holyrood instead Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) NIGEL Farage has U-turned on a plan to scrap all MSPs and put Scottish MPs in Holyrood instead. The Reform UK leader wanted a watered down parly when he bossed the Ukip party — but now concedes 'devolution is here to stay'. 1 Nigel Farage says devolution is here to stay Credit: Getty But he told The Scottish Sun: 'I don't think you can turn the clock back. We're not going to reverse devolution.' Mr Farage previously wanted to axe our parliament as we know it and put Scotland's Westminster politicians in there when they decide on Scottish-only matters. Reform surged to third in last week's Hamilton by-election — fewer than 1,500 votes behind winners Labour. Farage — bookies' favourite to be the next PM — hit out at 'excesses of the Scottish Parliament' such as whopping construction costs and 'the fact that it's really failed quite badly to deliver on some of its key objectives — education in particular, and health'. He said: 'The job now is to make sure it's done better.' Reform grabbed 26.1 per cent of the vote last week, the SNP 29.4 per cent and Labour 31.6 per cent. Farage's party is tipped to grab at least a dozen MSPs at the 2026 election — but has been criticised for a lack of devolved policies. Asked how his party would spend £10billion if they had power in Scotland, Mr Farage said: 'What about creating money? What about creating wealth and jobs? What about upping the average income of people living in Scotland? That's my priority.' Reform has published a one-page, 200-word 'position paper' which states: 'We have a vision where personal liberty and free speech are respected and promoted, support is available when needed, but life is largely untrammelled by government interference.' It also plugs 'traditional Scottish values' like 'integrity, thrift, hard work and tolerance'. Dark curse ravaging 'UK's best high street' On independence, it says Scotland should stay as a 'full and respected member of the UK
Times
33 minutes ago
- Times
10pm is the new 7: restaurants open late as Londoners stay out
If New York is the city that never sleeps, London is the city that likes to go to bed early. Restrictive licensing laws, residents' eagerness to file noise complaints, staffing issues, high rents and a cost of living crisis have combined to leave the capital with a sedate late-night offering. But as pubs close earlier and there are fewer dancefloors on which to shake your hips, another gathering place is emerging for those wanting to kick back into the wee hours — the restaurant table. Central London is far from the 24-hour party envisaged by Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor, and the 7pm to 8pm reservations window remains the most coveted, but upmarket restaurants are offering later booking slots as demand rises. Mountain in Soho, described as the 'most exciting restaurant this year' in a 2023 Times review, has pushed back its last reservation slot to 10.30pm. Tomos Parry, the owner, who also founded Brat in Shoreditch, said he was encouraged by the green shoots of a late-night dining revival. 'It's not back to those massive numbers and super-late night dining of the 1990s and 2000s but it is certainly starting to come back,' he said. 'II would love late-night dining to come back much stronger.' • How to eat out at expensive restaurants on a budget Parry said that the demand was driven partly by the return of a post-theatre dining crowd. Tourists staying at the growing crop of city-centre hotels and keen to try the city's most-hyped restaurants were also more willing to take slots after 9pm. Speedboat Bar, a thriving restaurant styled on a Thai sports bar, also accepts bookings at 10.30pm. On Friday and Saturday, it offers a late-night food menu from 11pm to 12.30am. At the recently-opened Noodle and Beer in Chinatown, tables can be reserved until 1.45am on Saturdays. At the Dover, a New York-styled Italian restaurant, guests can book a table until 11.30pm from Thursday to Saturday, when it will be between 80 and 90 per cent full. Jeremy King, one of Britain's most respected restaurateurs, who founded The Wolseley, The Delaunay, The Ivy and Le Caprice, called last month for a return to 1980s excess. • Giles Coren: my top 10 London restaurants if money were no object Recalling how, when he started in hospitality in the 1970s, last orders were often taken at 1am, King said: 'Now, it's almost impossible to get anything [to eat] after 10pm. I don't fully understand why it happened but I'm determined to redress the situation.' King has begun offering a 25 per cent discount for those who dine after 9.45pm at his restaurants, Arlington and The Park. 'I want to encourage people to rediscover the fun of late-night dining,' he told the Sunday Times. The shift towards earlier dining in London's restaurants was hastened by the Covid-19 pandemic, which upended the hospitality sector and changed dining habits to such an extent that the efforts of King and others may be futile. Healthy lifestyle choices are leading diners to prioritise sleep over late-night indulgence and flexible working has helped make 6pm — before the evening rush — an increasingly desirable slot. Earlier reservations are popular with parents and a younger crowd who often drink less and may not bookend meals with drinks elsewhere. In May, online booking site OpenTable reported a 6 per cent increase from January for tables between 4pm and 6pm across Britain. Leading restaurants have embraced the change to get people through the doors earlier. At Portland, a Michelin star restaurant in Fitzrovia, those who book between 5.30pm and 6.30pm are offered a special menu at £55, rather than its normal £110-per-head tasting menu.
