- author, Faisal Islam & Charlotte Edwards
- role, BBC News
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Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will promise to make driving economic growth a “national mission” in her maiden speech as Treasury Minister.
Mr Reeves will later speak to business leaders at the Treasury where he will set out Labour’s economic plans and say “the era of chaos and irresponsibility is over”.
She is also expected to announce the reinstatement of mandatory housebuilding targets as part of an overhaul of England’s town planning rules.
And she will say that with the political turmoil in France and the US, the UK has now emerged as one of the most stable places for international investment.
She and her team spent the weekend preparing the speech, aimed at business leaders and investors who have seen investment into the UK stagnate in recent years due to post-Brexit political turmoil and Liz Truss’s government’s mini-budget.
Reeves is expected to announce immediate relaxation of planning red tape that has hindered the development of construction, infrastructure and energy grids.
This will be done in the hope that investors will unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment into green industry and housebuilding.
Mandatory housing construction targets are also expected to be reinstated.
A moratorium on onshore wind power is expected to be lifted and extra funding will be made available for hundreds of new planners.
She told the BBC on Friday she was “prepared to fight” those who delay or reject housebuilding and infrastructure investment in the planning system.
On Monday morning she will tell business leaders: “Last week, the British people voted for change and over the past 72 hours I have set out to do the work necessary to deliver on that mission.”
“Our manifesto was clear: sustained economic growth is the only way to improve our prosperity and the living standards of our workers.”
“Where previous administrations have been unwilling to make the tough decisions, I will do it. This is now a national mission. There is no time to waste.”
The chancellor is also expected to argue, based on new Treasury analysis, that the UK economy is £140 billion smaller than it would be if it had grown at the same rate as other developed countries.
She is expected to add: “This could have provided £58 billion in extra tax revenue to maintain public services last year alone.”
“It’s up to the new government to repair the foundations.”
She is not yet due to announce any new tax or spending measures.
She is due to meet with the Office for Budget Responsibility this week, ahead of a budget and spending review in the autumn. She also met with the Governor of the Bank of England on Friday.
During the election campaign, Labour focused primarily on tackling housing supply issues, promising to build 1.5 million homes in the next Parliament.
Supporters of mandatory housing construction targets argue that they are necessary to ensure that local governments build the required number of homes.
But opponents say this coercive approach has been tried unsuccessfully for decades, and risks forcing development onto greenfield areas against the wishes of local residents.
Roger Mortlock, chief executive of countryside charity CPRE, said he would question whether green belt areas were the place to start building “as long as it’s an idea that still has significant public support”.
He told the BBC’s Today programme that CPRE would argue that towns and cities, where infrastructure is already in place, are the best places for housing.
“The idea that the Green Belt should remain untouched is [under] “The allegations made by the previous government are not true. Since 2009, between 60,000 and 10,000 homes have been built per year on brownfield land within the Green Belt,” he said.
“What they’re creating are car-dependent communities that cut holes in green spaces and too often provide nothing for the people who live there.”
