Mayors to have more devolved planning powers under Labour Government, party says

The Labour Party has vowed to reform the planning system by reintroducing mandatary local housing targets, recruiting hundreds of new planning officers, and giving mayors new planning powers.

Detailing the party's proposed policies in a speech in Dudley on Thursday (28 March), Labour leader Keir Starmer said that planning reform was the first policy area in a list of five 'priorities' aimed at "national renewal".

More details also came in an earlier speech by the Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and in a document titled ''Power and Partnership: Labour's Plan to Power up Britain''.

The Labour leader said planning reform would be packaged in a new 'Take Back Control act', which would include new powers for mayors over transport, skills, enterprise, energy, planning, high streets, and new powers to generate growth in every town and city.

The party's policy document noted that mayors would have "stronger powers over planning and departmental style settlements for housing powers" if Labour got into power.

It also said Labour would introduce 'planning passports' for urban brownfield delivery, "a tough package of planning reform to fast track approvals and delivery of high density housing on urban brownfield sites".

In addition, the party committed to introducing 300 new planning officers across the country "to improve public sector capacity to expedite planning decisions".

On devolution, the document said its plans to devolve more power would be supported by long-term integrated funding settlements.

The news comes two weeks on from a speech by the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who said Labour would reintroduce mandatary local housing targets, which have recently been scrapped by the Tory government in reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework.

Adam Carey