Commentary on Sections Nationally significant infrastructure projects Section 27: Two-person Panels
134.Section 27 amends the 2008 Act to enable the Secretary of State to appoint a two-person panel as the examining authority for an application for development consent for a nationally significant infrastructure project. The 2008 Act provides for the appointment of a single person, or a panel of three, four or five people. Subsection (1) amends section 65 of the 2008 Act and subsections (2) to (4) make three consequential amendments to that Act: section 68 is amended so that the appointment of additional panel members is only required if a panel is reduced to a single member (rather than reduced to two members); section 73 is amended to remove a current reference to a panel consisting of two members; and section 75 is amended to clarify the procedure for decision-making for two-person panels.