Prime minister Keir Starmer has pledged to triple the number of decisions on major infrastructure projects during this parliament, promising to end the “nonsense” of delays caused by objectors.
In a major speech today (5 December) outlining the government’s Plan for Change, Starmer said that the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill would streamline the approvals process.
He said that the planning system was currently a blockage so big that it “obscures an entire future”.
Starmer added: “You walk around our country. You look at our infrastructure. And it is clear, almost immediately, that we have long freeloaded off the British genius of the past because we won’t build a future.
“We haven’t built a reservoir for over 30 years. And even the projects we do approve are fought tooth and nail, nail and tooth, until you end up with the spectacle of a £100m bat tunnel holding up the country’s single biggest infrastructure project, driving up taxes and the cost of living beyond belief.”
Starmer said that the new target of 150 major infrastructure decisions over the course of the parliament would triple the rate compared to the last parliament.
“And just as importantly,” he said, “it will send a very clear message to the nimbies, the regulators, the blockers, the bureaucrats, the alliance of naysayers, the people who say ‘no Britain can’t do this, we can’t get things done in our country.
“But we say to them, you no longer have the upper hand. Britain says yes.”
Today’s infrastructure pledge comes on top of the party’s manifesto commitment to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament, a figure widely seen as unrealistic within the industry.
Paul Maile, head of planning and infrastructure consenting at law firm Eversheds Sutherland, welcomed the government’s commitment to growth but said the key challenge would be turning intent into delivery.
He said: “We await the imminent results of the National Planning Policy Framework consultation and the publication of revised policy to fully understand how those are to be addressed.
“However, policy changes and planning reforms are often slow to show results, and despite positive talk and plans, it is crucial to see new houses and infrastructure projects not just planned, but built and operational.
