Plans for two data centres in London’s commuter belt are to be looked at by Levelling-up Secretary Angela Rayner as part of moves to boost jobs.
The Deputy Prime Minister is “recovering two appealed planning applications” for the data centres in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.
She is also writing to local mayors and the Office for Investment to ensure that any investment opportunity with important planning considerations that comes across their desks is brought to her attention, as well as Rachel Reeves’.
Ms Rayner said: “Our country is under new management and a new era for economic growth will be built on secure foundations.
“The Chancellor and I will work in lockstep to kickstart the economy, unleashing housebuilding and powering local growth.
“Change starts now. We will unblock the bottlenecks and drive forward a transformational package to build the homes people need.”
Earlier, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones flagged a disused petrol station in Tottenham as an example of “grey belt” land which could be used for new homes.
Ms Reeves was pushing planning reforms as she makes boosting economic growth her number one priority.
Ahead of Ms Reeves delivering her first major speech as Chancellor on her economic plans, Mr Jones gave more details of the planning shake-up.
He told LBC Radio: “The green belt is safe.
“We have talked about the grey belt which is where there are areas of land, currently designated as areas of national beauty when they are not.
“Let me give you an example, in Tottenham in London, there is a disused petrol station and forecourt which is currently in the envelope of a green belt area.
“There are little pockets of this kind of land all over the country.
“But they are currently unable to be developed even though local people probably want them to be into something useful, because they are withinthe boundaries drawn previously by councils to designate them as green belt.
“So, we are going to look at this definition of grey belt and unlock land and investment to be able to deliver the infrastructure that people want across the country.”
The new Government was due to reinstate mandatory housebuilding targets for councils which is likely to spark some backlash.
Mr Jones stressed that there would also be an aim to speed up planning decisions for major projects but denied that local people would be excluded from having their say.
In her speech in central London, Britain’s first female Chancellor vowed to take “difficult decisions” because there is “no time to waste” with boosting growth.
Sir Keir Starmer’s administration has made faster economic growth, and the tax revenues that would flow from it, a key plank of its strategy to fund public services which are struggling for cash.
The Labour manifesto committed to wholesale planning reforms to make it easier to build and a greater focus on driving through key infrastructure projects which have become mired in delays and boost housebuilding.
The manifesto pledged to “immediately” update the National Policy Planning Framework to undo changes made by the Conservatives, including restoring mandatory housing targets.
The party also plans to allow building on some greenbelt land, promising to take a “more strategic approach” to “build more homes in the right places”.
Speaking in London in her first speech since Labour’s crushing election victory on Thursday, Ms Reeves told business chiefs: “Where governments have been unwilling to take the difficult decisions to deliver growth – or have waited too long to act – I will deliver.
“It is now a national mission. There is no time to waste.”
We face the legacy of 14 years of chaos and economic irresponsibility
She set out the steps the Government has taken to “fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off”.
With forecasts for the public finances indicating a squeeze of up to £20 billion in spending on departments where budgets are not protected, Labour will rely on increased growth to keep its twin promises of not returning to austerity and avoiding tax hikes beyond the measures it has already announced.
The Chancellor will say that failing to keep pace with the average level of growth in the OECD group of developed countries has cost the Exchequer £58 billion in tax revenue.
Ms Reeves said: “We face the legacy of 14 years of chaos and economic irresponsibility.
“New Treasury analysis I requested over the weekend exposed the opportunities lost from this failure.
“Had the UK economy grown at the average rate of OECD economies since 2010, it would have been over £140 billion larger.
#ICYMI here's our March 2024 GDP growth forecast pic.twitter.com/71ItNhVyK2
— Office for Budget Responsibility (@OBR_UK) March 7, 2024
“This could have brought in an additional £58 billion in tax revenues last year alone to sustain our public services.
“It falls to this new Government to fix the foundations.”
The Treasury indicated Ms Reeves would announce swift changes to unblock infrastructure and private investment.
Ms Reeves has previously branded the planning system “the greatest single obstacle” to economic success.
Labour’s manifesto committed to a 10-year infrastructure strategy to guide investment plans and give the private sector certainty about the project pipeline and the creation of a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority to oversee schemes.
The manifesto also promised to update planning policy to make it easier to build laboratories, digital infrastructure and gigafactories as well as 1.5 million homes.
