Prime Minister says regulations should “enable the builders not the blockers”
Keir Starmer has pledged to deregulate in order to boost the building of new homes and infrastructure.
The prime minister, speaking at the government’s International Investment Summit in Whitehall, pledged to get rid of unnecessary regulation, describing it as the “biggest supply-side problem we have in our country”.
He said: “We’ve also got to look at regulation – across the piece.
“Where it is needlessly holding back the investment we need to take our country forward, where it is stopping us building the homes, the data centres, the warehouses, grid connectors, roads, trainlines, you name it…then mark my words, we will get rid of it.”
Starmer said however that some regulation is “life-saving” pointing to the recent Grenfell Inquiry report, which revealed the role of regulatory failings in the 2017 disaster.
However, he added: “I would say the previous government hid behind regulators, [it] deferred decisions to them because it was either too weak or indecisive or simply not committed enough to growth, planning is a very real example of that.”
“The the key test for me on regulation is of course growth. Is this going to make our economy more dynamic? Is this going to inhibit or unlock investment? Is it something that enables the builders not the blockers?”
>>See also: The ins and outs of Labour’s new National Planning Policy Framework
The government, which is pledging to build 1.5 million homes over five years, has proposed major planning changes in order to boost housing development.
These include bringing back mandatory housing targets using a revised method for calculating housing need, measures intended to make it easier to build on the green belt and introducing a system of brownfield planning passports to speed up development on urban sites. It is proposing streamlining and simplifying planning by modernising planning committees and increasing their capacity through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
The government has also signalled its intention to change nutrient neutrality rules, which the Home Builders Federation estimates has held up building nearly 100,000 homes. It has said the rules wrongly blame developers for water pollution.
Starmer’s speech came as the government announced £63bn of private investment into UK building projects and opened a consultation on its industrial strategy.
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