Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Planning Reform: Economic Growth

Tuesday 9 September 2025 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 4 Not answered 1

Key points

  • Jas Athwal asked about the regeneration plans for Ilford and the Minister praised the Labour council's efforts to bring investment through housing and infrastructure.
  • Mr Gregory Campbell inquired about sharing planning success with other regions and nations, and the Minister discussed the need to address growth blockers in Belfast.
  • Dame Meg Hillier questioned the availability of skills for housing construction, and the Minister highlighted the opening of new construction colleges to train future builders and engineers.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jas Athwal Lab Ilford South
Economy Housing Transport
Context

The MP is concerned about economic development in Ilford and mentions specific regeneration plans such as developments at Billet Road and Padnall Lake. These areas are capitalizing on the opening of four Elizabeth line stations.

Question

I have been banging the drum for some time now that Ilford is the best place to live, and with four Elizabeth line stations, that has never been more true than now. Barking and Dagenham council and Redbridge council are both capitalising on ambitious regeneration plans, like the developments at Billet Road and Padnall Lake. What are the Government doing to encourage businesses to seize on this investment by making investments of their own, backing Ilford, its community and its economy?

Answer from Rachel Reeves (The Chancellor of the Exchequer)

I thank my hon. Friend for everything that he is doing to champion Ilford South and to bring more investment into his local community. It is great to have Labour councils working with a Labour Government to bring investment to local communities through housing and, crucially, through infrastructure—the schools and the doctors’ surgeries—that go alongside that new housing, so that we build not just homes but communities.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response does not provide specific actions or investments for businesses in Ilford South. It focuses on general support for Labour councils working with the Government to bring investment through housing and infrastructure.

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Q2 Gregory Campbell DUP East Londonderry
Economy Northern Ireland Scotland
Context

The MP is interested in the success of planning reforms in England being extended to other regions in the UK.

Question

As the Chancellor tries to cut through the bureaucratic red tape around planning outlines, can she undertake that, if successful over the course of the next six to 12 months, she will share that success with the other regions and nations in the United Kingdom, so that we can all benefit from simplified planning procedures, which will bring benefits for all our constituents?

Answer from Rachel Reeves (The Chancellor of the Exchequer)

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Belfast, where I visited Thales, the defence manufacturer, and Studio Ulster, where I saw some of the fantastic work in the creative industries. I also had the opportunity to talk about some of the blockers to growth. We need to better reform our planning system, not just in England but in Northern Ireland and Scotland as well, so that we can get things built in Britain again. People are crying out for hope. Growth offers hope and investment offers hope, and that is what this Government offer too.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response does not provide a clear commitment to share successful planning reforms with other regions if they prove effective within the specified timeframe. The focus remains on broader reform efforts across different parts of the UK.

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Q3 Meg Hillier Labour (Co-op) Hackney South and Shoreditch
Education Housing Employment
Context

The MP highlights the challenges of providing affordable homes due to a lack of necessary workforce skills. They mention specific issues like school closures due to a lack of affordable housing.

Question

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s commitment to the hope of decent homes. In my constituency, children and families are leaving in droves and schools are closing because of a lack of properly affordable housing. She knows, as I do, that whatever we do in planning, without the skills that we need to build those homes, there will be a block there. Is she working with the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who now has the skills brief, to ensure that we are investing in those skills and super-turbocharging the people who can help to build those homes?

Answer from Rachel Reeves (The Chancellor of the Exchequer)

Just this September, new construction colleges have started opening around the country to train up the next generation of builders, plumbers and engineers, so that we can build both the housing infrastructure and the other infrastructure our country desperately needs. We have reformed the apprenticeship system, so that we can have more foundation apprenticeships for a shorter period of time to quickly get people the skills they need. Not requiring people to have a grade C or equivalent in maths and English to access an apprenticeship programme is also so important for young children who maybe did not get the grades they wanted in their GCSEs, but deserve a chance of a good apprenticeship and a job offering a decent wage.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response focuses on general reforms to the apprenticeship system and education initiatives but does not specifically address collaboration with other departments or super-turbocharging workforce skills.

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Q4 Tim Farron Lib Dem Westmorland and Lonsdale
Housing
Context

The MP is concerned about the affordability of homes, pointing out that existing planning permissions are not being utilized effectively.

Question

There is planning permission in this country for 900,000 properties that are as yet unbuilt, so maybe the issue is not that the planning laws are too restrictive but that they are not prescriptive enough. In my constituency, the average income needed to buy the average house is £71,000 a year—11 times the average income in my communities. Is it not right to ensure that, if the Chancellor changes planning law, we have to build more genuinely affordable homes in communities like ours, rather than giving developers carte blanche?

Answer from Rachel Reeves (The Chancellor of the Exchequer)

That cannot be an excuse, though, for blocking developments and blocking people who own land from building more homes on that land. In the end, the simple law of supply and demand means that if we are not building homes, prices will continue to be unaffordable for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents. We are not allowing builders to build carte blanche and he absolutely knows that. We put the biggest investment into the affordable homes programme that has ever been seen, because it is important that the homes being built are affordable for families in his constituency and in mine.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response does not provide specific measures to build more genuinely affordable homes. It emphasizes existing investments in affordable housing programs without addressing new prescriptive planning laws.

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Q5 James Wild Con North West Norfolk
Economy Taxation Housing
Context

The MP is concerned about the potential impact of a proposed hike in the builders tax, which would increase construction costs significantly.

Question

The Government want to drive growth through house building, but even before the departure of the Deputy Prime Minister, they were predicted to miss the 1.5 million new homes target by half a million. How does the Chancellor and her team of tax raisers think a 3,000% hike in the builders tax, adding £28,000 to the cost of building a new home, will help to deliver the new homes that young people need? Rather than consult on it, why will she not rule out this damaging tax rise?

Answer from Rachel Reeves (The Chancellor of the Exchequer)

I think Opposition Members will recognise that building companies have strongly welcomed the reforms we have made to get the country building, and they are very much against the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and others in the House of Lords opposing the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which could have been given Royal Assent by now without that opposition. Instead of scaremongering about something that is being consulted on, the shadow Minister might want to get on and back the positive things that the Government are doing.

Not answered

Not addressed: The response avoids addressing the specific concerns raised about the builders tax hike and instead criticizes opposition parties for opposing the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

How: Criticizing Opponents, Referring To Positive Government Actions

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