A King’s Speech for “Growth”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeatedly spoken of his plans to bulldoze through the barriers to growth, in particular the blocks in the planning and development sector. Today’s King’s Speech set out how Labour plan to get “Britain Building Again”. The new government will bring forward around 40 new bills, including a Planning and Infrastructure Bill to support their ambitions on economic growth, new homes and net zero, by getting more shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky.
A Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be brought forward to unlock and accelerate development of new housing of all tenures, and critical infrastructure, to create better conditions and certainty required for enhancing economic growth.
The Bill will seek to shorten the timescales for planning applications and provide early certainty for investors. It will focus on ‘how’ not ‘if’, by limiting the scope of communities and local politicians to block sustainable development of new homes and infrastructure.
Planning Committee Reform
The Government’s background note on the speech refers to ‘modernising planning committees’, the local body of councillors that currently has the power to grant or refuse planning permission. Modernisation will ‘improve local planning decision making’ and there has been much commentary in recent days around the future focus of committees being on design and quality of development, rather than whether a development is brought forward or blocked.
At the recent general election, Labour campaigned on a commitment to increase the number of planning officers in councils around the country. Government figures state that in 2022/23, the cost of running local planning services was £794 million, with an estimated funding shortfall of £262 million. Through this Bill the government will seek to grow the officer capacity of local planning authorities to deliver an improved service for developers and investors.
The National Infrastructure Commission is concerned about the current rollout of upgrades in sectors such as energy and transport, with unintended consequences for economic growth an meeting net-zero targets. The new Bill will seek to re-define critical infrastructure, with a view to accelerate national grid upgrades, to support UK energy independence, boost renewable energy and deliver clean power by 2030.
The consenting process for major infrastructure projects will be reformed, with more scope around renewable energy generation. National Policy Statements will be updated, with further reviews every five years, giving increased certainty to developers and communities.
Reforms to compulsory purchase will also seek to unlock additional sites for development, especially where there is a social benefit, with a view to accelerating housebuilding and delivering more affordable housing. A review of housing targets will be launched imminently and additional powers for mayors around housing and planning. Additionally, local growth plans are expected to come in the English Devolution Bill.
The Bill will also focus on nature recovery. The Government will consult with nature delivery organisations and the construction sector in the weeks ahead to determine the best way forward to dovetail enhancements to nature and economic growth.
We await much more in the way of detail and how the politics of these reforms plays out in the weeks and months ahead. Planning and development issues often transcend party politics, depending on the local circumstances, so it remains to be seen how local Labour MPs and councillors adapt to a new, much more pro-development national policy position.