The Secretary of State may designate a statement as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act if the statement—
In this Act "national policy statement" means a statement designated under subsection (1) as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act.
Before designating a statement as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act the Secretary of State must carry out an appraisal of the sustainability of the policy set out in the statement.
A statement may be designated as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act only if the consultation and publicity requirements set out in section 7, and the parliamentary requirements set out in section 9, have been complied with in relation to it and—
In subsection (4) "the consideration period", in relation to a statement, means the period of 21 sitting days beginning with the first sitting day after the day on which the statement is laid before Parliament under section 9(8), and here "sitting day" means a day on which the House of Commons sits.
The policy set out in a national policy statement may in particular—
If a national policy statement sets out policy in relation to a particular description of development, the statement must set out criteria to be taken into account in the design of that description of development.
A national policy statement must give reasons for the policy set out in the statement.
The reasons must (in particular) include an explanation of how the policy set out in the statement takes account of Government policy relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.
The Secretary of State must—
In this section "statutory undertakers" means persons who are, or are deemed to be, statutory undertakers for the purposes of any provision of Part 11 of TCPA 1990.