PM sets target of decisions being taken on 150 major infrastructure projects under streamlined approval process

The Prime Minister has attacked “the nimbys, the regulators, the blockers and bureaucrats…the alliance of naysayers” as he unveiled a target of fast-tracking decisions on 150 major infrastructure projects in this Parliament.

This will be in addition to the Government’s target of building 1.5m homes in England.

In his speech on the Government’s Plan for Change Sir Keir Starmer said: “[Take] our planning system. A blockage in our economy that is so big it obscures an entire future....stops this country building roads, grid connections, laboratories, trainlines, warehouses, windfarms, power stations.”

The Prime Minister called the planning system “a chokehold on the growth our country needs”.

He said: “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 absurd spectacle of a £100m bat tunnel holding up the country’s single biggest infrastructure project.”

Sir Keir said the Government would streamline the approval process in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

On the target of decisions being taken on 150 major infrastructure projects, the Prime Minister said that would be “a milestone” that will triple the number of decisions on national infrastructure compared with the last Parliament.  

He added: “And just as important, [it] will send a very clear message to the nimbys, the regulators, the blockers and bureaucrats….the alliance of naysayers, the people who say no ‘Britain can’t do this’, we can’t get things done in our country. We say to them – you no longer have the upper hand…Britain says yes.”

In addition to the targets on housebuilding in England and decisions on infrastructure projects, the Plan for Change has five other “measurable milestones” for this Parliament. They are:

• raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, “so working people have more money in their pocket as we aim to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7”
• ending hospital backlogs to meet the NHS standard of 92% of patients in England waiting no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment
• putting police “back on the beat” with a named officer for every neighbourhood, and 13,000 additional officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood roles in England and Wales
• giving children the best start in life, “with a record 75% of 5-year-olds in England ready to learn when they start school”
• securing home-grown energy, “protecting billpayers, and putting us on track to at least 95% clean power by 2030, while accelerating the UK to net zero”.

The Government said: “To achieve these milestones, we will need to make tough decisions…..

“These are not easy choices, but they are necessary trade-offs to deliver the priorities of working people, while taking a responsible approach to public finances which is required for long-term economic growth.”