Just eight months on from the last King’s Speech, yesterday saw King Charles return to Parliament to outline the new Labour government’s priorities for its first Parliamentary session in power for 14 years.
This is a key opportunity for the new government to set out its positions, and there were some ambitious plans on display – including legislation on planning reform, green energy, and devolution.
Planning for growth
The key piece of legislation in the housing and planning space is the government’s proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill. The aim of the bill, which will apply to England and Wales, is to “unlock more housing and infrastructure across the country and support sustained economic growth”.
The government has a clear vision that the planning system should be a mechanism to generate growth, and it has been transparent about its determination to build new homes and infrastructure. Democratic engagement with the planning process is therefore envisioned to be in the context of “how, not if”.
Some of the major elements of the bill include:
- increasing local planning authorities’ capacity in order to improve performance and decision-making
- modernising planning committees to improve local decision-making
- reforming compulsory purchase compensation rules to ensure that excessive compensation is not paid to landowners where delivery is for social and physical infrastructure and affordable housing
- simplifying the consenting process for major infrastructure projects
RIBA has long called for local planning authorities to be allocated more capacity, though whether this will take the form of the 300 additional planning officers already committed to by the government, or further additional resource, is yet to be seen. Given the scale of need across local planning authorities in terms of both capacity and skills gaps, it is likely that more will need to be done to see real improvement.
Moves to improve decision-making on new development may also prove helpful in speeding up the planning process, while changes to compulsory purchase compensation rules could prove helpful to local authorities looking to unlock land for development.
A lack of further detail on how the government seeks to increase social and affordable housing provision is disappointing. Another omission was any reference to the creation of new towns – a core element of the new government’s approach to housing delivery.
Green energy and green growth
A number of measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill focus on green energy and nature recovery. Alongside aiming to accelerate the delivery of homes and infrastructure, the bill will prioritise upgrades to the national grid and boost renewable energy.
Nature recovery is also touched on, with development touted as a mechanism to fund nature recovery initiatives where they have stalled. Further detail on this will be developed in conjunction with nature delivery stakeholders, and the government has committed to starting consultation with the sector over summer.
Generating green growth is a clear goal for the new government. Its Great British Energy Bill, establishing a new publicly-owned energy production company, seeks to cut bills while ensuring energy independence and creating jobs. These are admirable aims, but to truly address the cost of living crisis, then these plans must be accompanied by measures to reduce energy demand in our homes.
While Labour’s Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements, it falls short of the National Retrofit Strategy desperately needed to reach net zero.
The newly-announced National Wealth Fund Bill is another addition to the green growth agenda. Its role will be to make transformative investments across the country while playing a central role in the government’s clean energy mission. Its inclusion indicates a serious approach to growth throughout all regions, while maintaining emphasis on positive environmental outcomes.
New local powers
Expanding the power of England’s devolved regions is a core focus of the new government. With a view that local leaders are best placed to capitalise on opportunities, direct growth, and empower communities, the English Devolution Bill will have a number of ramifications.
An enhanced standardised devolution framework will increase powers over strategic planning, local transport networks, skills, and employment support. New powers and duties will also allow local leaders to produce Local Growth Plans.
Local communities will benefit from the introduction of a new “right to buy” for community assets such as empty shops, pubs, and community spaces, helping struggling high streets and revitalising empty premises. If established well, these moves to enable communities to play a role in the creation and maintenance of civic space may invoke innovative results.
Acknowledgement of the value of local leaders in placemaking is a welcome facet of the announcements. With new powers for strategic planning and transport, there may be opportunities for more meaningful community consultation – and in doing so, addressing and mitigating opposition to high-quality development.
Skills and employment
The government’s proposed Skills England Bill will establish a new body called – wait for it – Skills England, made up of employers, unions, education, and training providers. Its purpose will be to work with national government to:
- develop a single picture of national and local skills needs
- identify the training for which the Growth and Skills Levy will be accessible.
- ensure that the national and regional skills systems are meeting skills needs and are aligned
Skills England will work with industry, the Migration Advisory Committee, unions, and the Industrial Strategy Council to assess current and future skills needs. The establishment of a dedicated body for skills shows a government taking future challenges in this area seriously. We look forward to further detail on how it will work in practice.
Also in the employment space, the Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will enshrine the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people in law. Similar to gender pay requirements, it will introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for large organisations (those with 250+ employees).
Private rented sector
Included in the announcements were legislation to improve the rights of both renters and homeowners. Building on the previous government’s work, the Labour Party’s Renters’ Rights Bill will apply a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector in order to tackle poor quality homes. This is a very welcome measure, and one which RIBA has long supported to ensure high standards of quality across all tenures.
This bill will also apply “Awaab’s Law” to the sector, setting clear legal expectations about how quickly private landlords must make hazardous homes safe.
What happens next?
The contents of the King's Speech will now be debated in the House of Commons, with the introduction of each bill coming afterwards. As relevant bills are introduced the policy and public affairs team will work with government and MPs to ensure they deliver a high-quality, sustainable built environment.
Read our initial response to the King's Speech.
Find out more about our policy and public affairs work.
