MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Labour pledges 150 major infrastructure projects and 1.5 million homes, biggest building boom in half century

The extensive Plan for Change program announced by the Prime Minister “will deliver a decade of national renewal”.

The new Labour government in Britain is pledging more giga-factories, solar farms, roads, and railway lines are set to be green-lighted in the next five years, adding billions to the economy, as part of stretching new milestones.

Planning decisions for major infrastructure projects are set to soar, ramping up economic growth, with at least 150 applications to be decided, as part of the ambitious Plan for Change. Investment in major infrastructure are key to delivering growth and will help improve people’s lives through additional jobs, better connectivity and cheaper energy bills, points out a 10 Downing Street release.

The pledge comes as government vows to rebuild Britain, arrest decades of failures and fix the housing crisis to deliver for working people. New ambitious milestones will create higher living standards in every region of the country so that working people have more money in their pockets – an unrelenting focus of the Mission-led government.

This is part of the extensive Plan for Change program announced by the Prime Minister “that will deliver a decade of national renewal”.

The new milestone asks Secretaries of States to turbocharge decisions on major infrastructure projects – almost tripling the 57 decisions made in the previous Parliament and more than the total number of decisions made since 2011. This is alongside building 1.5 million safe and decent homes.

While the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill will set out how the delivery process for critical infrastructure is streamlined, including accelerating upgrades to the national grid and boosting renewable energy.

New 10-year strategies for housing and infrastructure will also be published next spring, providing a roadmap for future investment and economic growth.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “We were elected on the promise of change and turning the page on failure, rebuilding this country from the bottom up.

“That’s why we won’t let the voices of the small minority of blockers hold the country hostage when it comes to growth. We’ve seen this done over the past year - with decisions on vital infrastructure with huge potential to grow our economy being unnecessarily delayed.

“Our Plan for Change will stop this and drive real improvements in the lives of working people.

“We’re already taking decisive action by transforming the planning system and bringing forward the biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation and alongside this uplift in infrastructure, we will unlock long-term economic prosperity for every part of the country.”