Rachel Reeves MP outlined an ambitious package of infrastructure planning reforms in a speech to business leaders.

Yesterday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out the steps the UK government is taking to drive economic growth in a speech to business leaders.
The speech built on the Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s December ‘Plan for Change’. This plan set milestones of 1.5 million new homes over five years, and 150 decisions on major infrastructure projects by the end of the Parliament.
The chancellor’s speech also followed two recent government papers on the 10-year infrastructure strategy and planning reform.
Supporting investment across the UK
The headlines from the chancellor’s speech focused on the government’s backing for a third runway at Heathrow Airport and growth in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor.
Both programmes have been on the political agenda for the past 20 years.
However, there was one significant announcement that went under the radar.
Updates to the Green Book
The Green Book, the government’s guidance on assessing investment, is to be updated so that it better supports decisions on public investment across the country.
"This means investment in all regions is given a fair hearing by the Treasury," the chancellor said.
There has been criticism that the Green Book has mainly channelled infrastructure investment to already economically successful areas, such as London and the South East.
Regional growth
Improving infrastructure and connectivity in the north of England and city regions is a key priority of the government.
The Treasury recently instructed the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and the new Office for Investment to work with mayoral combined authorities to support regional growth.
The NWF will trial ‘strategic partnerships’ in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, and Glasgow City Region.
The government says these will provide hands-on support with commercial and financial advice to help mayoral authorities develop and secure long-term investment opportunities.
Will Heathrow’s expansion align with carbon budgets?
“Net zero is the industrial opportunity of the 21st century,” the chancellor said, adding that there is “no trade-off between economic growth and net zero”.
But with the government’s commitment to expand Heathrow Airport, it must demonstrate how the plans align with upcoming, legally binding carbon budgets.
Heathrow’s expansion was approved by Parliament in 2018, but the plans were set back by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Questions remain over how compatible a third runway is with net zero targets.
Delivering carbon budgets
International aviation emissions are currently excluded from the UK’s carbon budgets, but will be included in the Sixth Carbon Budget, covering 2033-2037, onwards.
The last carbon budget delivery plan to meet the Sixth Carbon Budget was found unlawful in 2024. The government is set to produce an updated plan later this year.
It must also respond to the CCC's Seventh Carbon Budget, covering 2038-2042, which will be published in February.
The CCC has previously urged ministers to stop airport expansion projects until a UK-wide framework is in place to assess the aviation sector’s climate impact.
The government confirmed last month that it would not accept this recommendation.
Details emerge on the infrastructure strategy
While only tangentially mentioned in the speech, earlier this week the Treasury published a working paper on its 10-year infrastructure strategy.
Due to launch in June alongside a multi-year spending review, the strategy will outline how infrastructure delivers on the government’s objectives.
The working paper sets out how the government sees the strategy being structured and what should guide it.
It outlines three central objectives for the strategy:
- ‘enabling resilient growth’
- ‘delivering on the clean energy superpower mission’
- ‘ensuring social infrastructure can support public services’
By setting out its infrastructure plans over 10 years, it hopes to give businesses enough confidence to invest in skills, the supply chain and research and development.
The ICE is working closely with HM Treasury and others to feed in advice and insight into developing and delivering the strategy.
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is due to be introduced to Parliament in the spring.
In her speech, the chancellor outlined how the bill intends to "rapidly streamline" the process for deciding planning consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs).
The government has been publishing various documents over the past week, trailing what will be in the upcoming bill, including:
- A default answer of ‘yes’ to planning applications for housing developments near commuter transport hubs.
- Measures to prevent excessive legal challenges to planning decisions for major infrastructure projects.
- A new nature restoration fund to replace the current project-by-project approach to meeting environmental obligations.
Those measures and more have been set out in a planning reform working paper.
More frequent updates to national policy statements (NPS)
As set out in Labour’s manifesto, the government will require national policy statements – the documents against which NSIP applications are assessed – to be updated at least every five years.
There are currently 13 NPSs for different types of infrastructure, such as energy, roads, rail, water and airports.
Updating these more frequently means they are less open to challenge as they remain current.
The government is pushing for “smooth and speedy delivery” of the bill. But it has stated that it will not undermine the Environment Act nor the UK’s legally binding net zero target.
The ICE’s view
The chancellor’s speech shared some positive updates about how the government will support economic growth through infrastructure.
Investors and the construction supply chain need certainty so that they are confident that the UK is an attractive place to deliver infrastructure.
Updating the Green Book could also help address regional imbalances in investment.
More detail is needed on how the government will support growth and meet its net zero ambitions, due to arrive later this year through an updated carbon budget delivery plan.
Still, delivering infrastructure and meeting the country’s climate objectives shouldn’t be seen as an either/or choice.
Planning and delivering the right infrastructure can go hand in hand with achieving the country’s net zero ambitions.
The ICE hopes to see an even more defined vision for the country in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the 10-year infrastructure strategy.
In case you missed it
- What does the 10-year infrastructure strategy need to succeed? 4 experts outline their views.
- Read ICE’s latest insight paper outlining what governments value about the Enabling Better Infrastructure programme.
- Mike Reader MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure, sets out the group’s plans for 2025.
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