Planning bill will boost development but not without investment in skills

The bill itself – part of a broad package of measures designed by Labour to get Britain building and deliver growth through much-needed new infrastructure – aims to halve approval times for new roads, railways, and renewable energy installations to less than two years. The revamped National Planning Policy Framework that complements it will also enforce higher housing targets for local councils and make it easier for them to acquire land to help meet them.

This is of course only the first reading of the bill, and while the Government in Westminster should be commended for its leadership in attempting to reform a broken system, it will be some time before we begin to see its impact. If central government is serious about seeing meaningful progress within this parliament – and to support the ten-year infrastructure strategy currently in development – then additional pieces of the jigsaw need to be put in place while the bill progresses.

Chief among them is investment in planning departments to help progress the approval of new schemes at pace. It is no secret that the capacity of local teams has been a major block on development activity. Official statistics from the Scottish Government showed the number of local development applications – smaller applications for changes to homes and developments with up to 50 houses – was the lowest for five years last year. Meanwhile, the average decision time just to set out planning schedules between developers and the planning authority increased again to more than 11 weeks.

Ultimately, these are the numbers that reduce confidence among private investors that the projects they are funding will get off the ground. With interest rates falling and funders generally more active than they have been in recent years, now is the opportune time to build that confidence – adding people power to make the most of the reduction in red tape.

Of course, that remains easier said than done given the current state of the public purse. With the UK Government’s Spending Review due in June, the IFS’s view is that Scottish funding will grow annually at around 0.5 per cent in real terms – less than half the speed projected by Holyrood. Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement, and the scale of any cuts implemented, will give a good indication of whether all this will be possible.

Outside of planning departments, the other major inhibitor of future developments coming forward at pace is Britain’s ability to build them. The Construction Industry Training Board has outlined that around 250,000 extra construction workers will be required by 2028 to meet the development pipeline. Recruitment in the sector is generally fast-moving but almost a third (31 per cent) of contractors report finding suitably skilled staff as their most significant challenge. In particular, there is an issue around older workers retiring and not being replaced, as well as the long-standing void created by the end of Freedom of Movement.

The introduction of Skills England and the inception of regional Homebuilding Skills Hubs since last year’s general election shows positive intent. Further initiatives like this, part of a complementary skills strategy that includes planning professionals, will be key if we are to get Britain building again.

Richard Whitehead, chief executive (Europe and India) at global infrastructure leader AECOM