Shadow chancellor set to announce measures to fast track planning for life sciences, battery factories and 5G infrastructure

The shadow chancellor is set to announce plans to speed up 鈥榗ritically important infrastructure鈥�.

Rachel Reeves will today use her speech to the Labour conference in Liverpool to lay out plans to amend national policy statements within six months of a Labour government. She will announce a fast-tracked planning process for areas deemed 鈥榩riority growth鈥� including battery factories, life sciences facilities and 5G infrastructure.

Labour would also hire 300 new planners through raising stamp duty on non-UK residents.

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Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves wants decisions on infrastructure speeded up

Reeves, speaking to the BBC鈥檚 Today programme this morning, said the government is currently not investing in important infrastructure and that would change under Labour.

鈥淕overnments around the world from America to Asia to Europe, are seizing these opportunities, whether it鈥檚 5G infrastructure, the energy that鈥檚 needed to get us to a low carbon economy, the investment in life sciences鈥 want those jobs and investment here in Britain, and that鈥檚 what my reforms today are all about.鈥�

>>See also: Labour pledges biggest affordable housing boost 鈥榠n a generation鈥�

Reeves will also announce plans to ensure local communities and businesses in areas hosting new infrastructure would 鈥済et something back鈥� through incentives such as cheaper energy bills.

She said: 鈥淲hen communities host critical national infrastructure they should get some benefit, including lower bills.鈥� She added that this is happening in other countries and is 鈥渂est practice around the world鈥�.

She later told the conference; 鈥淭he Tories would have you believe we can鈥檛 build anything any more. In fact, the single biggest obstacle to building infrastructure, to investment and to growth in this country is the Conservative Party itself.

鈥淚f the Tories won鈥檛 build, if the Tories can鈥檛 build, then we will, tackling head-on the obstacles presented by our antiquated planning system.鈥�

Addressing Labour鈥檚 plan to fund 300 additional planning officers, RTPI vice-president Lindsey Richards said it was 鈥渘ot enough [but] a start鈥�.

鈥淚 think what we need to be thinking about is the building the pipeline of planners,鈥� she said at a conference fringe event on Monday morning.

鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about immediate action needed for immediate resourcing but then we need to be thinking about short term and then longer term. So it鈥檚 around building that pipeline, making sure we鈥檝e got more apprenticeships.鈥�

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