Chancellor George Osborne promised a further raft of planning reforms when he delivered his summer budget this week, but details will not be unveiled until 10 July.
The Planning Portal writes:
In his budget speech Osborne insisted the administration remained wedded to the development of a ‘Northern Powerhouse’. He confirmed new powers for the new elected mayor of Greater Manchester and the creation of city-wide land commission. He committed £30m to establish Transport for the North as a statutory body with statutory responsibilities.
The Chancellor announced the government would invite bids for a new round of Enterprise Zones. It has pledged continuing support – and a further £90m – to help coastal areas via the Coastal Communities Fund which will carry on until 2020. The administration has published a discussion paper on regional airports…
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) writes:
The Chancellor has presented his Summer Budget to Parliament today. He said planning reforms will be announced this Friday (10 June).
Janet Askew, President of the RTPI, said: ‘The Budget shows continued momentum to devolve more powers to other parts of the UK and we support this. We need more strategic planning – local authorities to work together across boundaries, co-ordinate land use, infrastructure, employment and housing. Cities and regions in devolution talks must seize this opportunity to achieve this. At the RTPI’s planning convention yesterday I made a plea for stability and certainty in the planning system. Attempts to simplify are simply making our regulations much more complicated than they need be. The planning reforms to be announced on Friday are our main concern and we will comment when we know more. As a Living Wage employer, the RTPI welcomes the Chancellor’s introduction of the national living wage to enable many more on low income to better cope with the cost of living.’
Key announcements in the Budget with planning implications:
- Road tax will be reformed and the money raised spent on the road network
- New enterprise zones will be set up in smaller towns
- An agreement has been reached with the 10 councils of Greater Manchester to devolve further powers to the city. These include putting fire services under the control of the new Mayor, establishing a land commission in the city, and further collaboration on children’s services and employment programmes.
- There are ongoing discussions to push forward city/regional deals with Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool and West Yorkshire, as well as more devolution to Cornwall
- Cities and counties in the North will be given even more control over local transport. Transport for the North (TfN) will be supported by £30 million in funding over 3 years, and will have more responsibility for setting out policy and investments
- The Climate Change Levy Exemption for renewable electricity is removed on the grounds that 1) other renewable incentives are in place, and 2) too much of the levy exemption applies to electricity generated abroad. The Government will push for a global climate deal this year that keeps goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees firmly within reach
Our observation on some of these and other elements in the speech:
- The threshold for Inheritance Tax will rise to £1million. This continues the separate and favourable treatment of homes as an asset class, contributing to higher prices. Calls for ‘housing supply’ to be increased need to be understood in the context of this continued favourable treatment.
- Rents for social housing are to be reduced by 1% per year in the next four years. This is estimated by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility to lead to a fall in housing association output of 14000 units over those four years.
- We support the commitment to put Transport for the North on a statutory footing.
- It is good to see that the Chancellor is honouring his commitments to a funding floor and to more devolution in Wales, and investment in important new infrastructure like the M4 and the Great Western Line.
- Vehicle Excise Duty will be ring fenced in a Roads Fund. Road traffic generates substantial negative impacts which need to be mitigated. Costs of motoring have barely changed since 1980 but public transport costs have increased by around two thirds. More must be done to encourage public transport – ringfencing VED may not even be sufficient to support the level of road investment proposed, let alone other transport priorities.
View LGA assessment of likely budget effects on Council funding
View Arts Council England’s view on effects of the budget on culture
The Guardian on expected announcements
