PM: A New Deal for Britain

1 Jul 2020 10:59 AM

This week the Prime Minister has set out the first steps in the strategy to rebuild Britain and fuel economic recovery across the UK.

This government is committed not just to defeating coronavirus but to using this crisis to tackle this country’s great unresolved challenges of the last three decades.

To build the homes, to fix the NHS, to tackle the skills crisis, to mend the gap in opportunity and productivity and connectivity between the regions of the UK, to unite and level up.

The government will build back better, build back greener, build back faster.

We will invest in and accelerate infrastructure across the UK; promote a clean, green recovery; reform our planning system; and strengthen the Union and local government.

All of these changes will make life better for the people of this great country and unleash Britain’s potential.

The Chancellor will unveil more of this plan next week, and we will use the forthcoming Spending Review and Autumn Budget to set the direction for the rest of this parliament.

Investing in and accelerating infrastructure

The government is committed to building a Britain with world class infrastructure. Spring Budget 2020 set out that the public sector will invest £640bn over five years in our future prosperity.

We are redoubling our efforts to get on with this now, in support of economic recovery and jobs right across the country by bringing forward £5bn of capital investment projects, supporting jobs and the economic recovery, including:

We will establish a new Infrastructure Delivery Taskforce, named ‘Project Speed’.

In the Autumn, the government will also publish a National Infrastructure Strategy which will set a clear direction on core economic infrastructure, including energy networks, road and rail, flood defences and waste.

The Government also intends to bring forward funding to accelerate infrastructure projects in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland - working with the devolved administrations to identify where we can get spades in the ground, build our communities, and create jobs faster for citizens across the United Kingdom. We will also carry out a review to look at how best to improve road, rail, air and sea links between our four nations to create a more connected kingdom.

Through the Barnett formula, the UK Government has already given the Scottish Government £5.4bn, the Welsh Government £2.4bn, and the Northern Ireland Executive £1.7bn in capital funding for devolved areas this financial year. We would encourage them to accelerate infrastructure projects in the same way that the UK Government is doing.

Promoting a clean, green recovery

The UK was the first major economy to commit to net zero emissions by 2050 in law. We already have a proven track record of cutting emissions while growing the economy, with over 460,000 UK jobs in low-carbon businesses and their supply chains.

We will continue to build on this even further and deliver a stronger, cleaner, more sustainable economy after this pandemic.

The Government will continue to set out further measures as part of its green agenda in the run up to COP26 in November 2021.

Transport:

Rebuilding our natural infrastructure:

Innovation:

Reforming our planning system

We will make it easier to build better homes where people want to live.

New regulations will give greater freedom for buildings and land in our town centres to change use without planning permission and create new homes from the regeneration of vacant and redundant buildings.

Under the new rules, existing commercial properties, including newly vacant shops, can be converted into residential housing more easily, in a move to kick start the construction industry and speed up rebuilding.

The changes include:

The Prime Minister also announced that work will begin to look at how land owned by the government can be managed more effectively.

Ahead of the Spending Review, a new, ambitious cross-government strategy look at how public sector land can be managed and released so it can be put to better use.

This would include home building, improving the environment, contributing to net zero goals and injecting growth opportunities into communities across the country.

These announcements come alongside a package of measures to support home building across England, including:

The government will launch a Policy Paper in July setting out our plan for comprehensive reform of England’s seven-decade old planning system, to introduce a new approach that works better for our modern economy and society.

Strengthening the Union