National Grid’s £3.4bn investment programme for the current year remains on target.

The majority of this year’s £2.5bn funding requirement has already been raised, with funding for around a further £400m required in the current year.

National Grid continues to work with regulators and policy makers to deliver improved regulatory frameworks.

The investor-owned electricity and gas company has welcomed the recent UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and intends to work with all parties to reduce UK carbon emissions by a third by 2020.

National Grid’s chief executive Steve Holliday said the government’s energy policy is moving in the right direction. Holliday said its now critical to get action on delivering what’s needed to turn this vision into a reality.  The challenge of ensuring security of supply and fighting climate change is one “we cannot afford to fail”, he said.

According to Holliday, crucially, planning reform must be implemented without delay - where major infrastructure investments are concerned, dates like 2020 are only the blink of an eye away and the clock is ticking.  The 2008 Planning Act set out the right framework, but the government needs to finalise the National Policy Statements on planning as soon as possible, he said.