Chancellor plans to ‘get Britain building’
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in his “mini Budget” today announced the Government’s plans for a new bill which will “unpack complex planning restrictions”.
Kwarteng says the government is committed to accelerating the delivery of major infrastructure projects across the country to drive economic growth.
Speaking in the House of Commons he said: “Today, our planning system for major infrastructure is too slow and fragmented.
“The time it takes to get consent for nationally significant projects is getting slower, not quicker, while our international competitors forge ahead.
“We have to end this”.
Therefore, it’s been announced that new legislation will be brought forward to speed up the delivery of infrastructure. This includes:
- reducing the burden of environmental assessments
- reducing bureaucracy in the consultation process
- reforming habitats and species regulations
- increasing flexibility to make changes to a Development Consent Order once it has been submitted.
138 road, rail, decarbonisation, energy and digital projects have already been identified for acceleration, with the vast majority starting construction by the end of 2023.
The Government says these projects may benefit from acceleration through planning reform, regulatory reform, improved processes or other options to speed up their development and construction, including through development consent processes.
Kwarteng also said in order to, “increase housing supply and enable forthcoming planning reforms, we will also increase the disposal of surplus government land to build new homes.
“We are getting out of the way to get Britain building”.
