Labour’s Budget today had a number of goodies for ‘working people’, but for businesses in the development and renewable energy sectors there were more mixed messages.
Prior to the Budget taking place, many elements were widely briefed to the media, meriting a rebuke from the Speaker of the House of Commons. The key announcements were:
£40 billion in new taxes, £25 billion from increases in employers' National Insurance contributions – the biggest tax hike in modern history.
Over £5 billion of funding to build new homes, including affordable homes, support small housebuilders, and increase capacity in local authority planning departments.
Combined authorities are also set to receive new powers, and direct funding will be given to develop brownfield sites.
The Chancellor committed to providing funding for new planning officers, funding for affordable homes and investment in brownfield sites. Some unspecified support for small housebuilders is included in the Budget, but it is also clear that the government will be expecting large amounts of affordable housing in return for any support of housebuilders.
CalComms remains a staunch advocate for supporting planning and development. This includes pushing for more funding for local councils and the Planning Inspectorate to bring forward more good Local Plans, bolstering support for small and regional housebuilders, and preserving stamp duty relief for first-time buyers. The Budget speech did address many of our aspirations which we have been consistently communicating to MPs and ministers. The Budget was comparatively light in policy announcements, but we noted from the Red Book (which details the Budget and gives fully spending and impact assessments) the departments responsible for local government and business are amongst the biggest winners in terms of new resources.
On the energy front, the government was expected to present a vision for Great British Energy that outlined decisive support for green and renewable technologies. A clearly defined investment strategy here could not only reduce consumer energy costs but also stimulate job creation, develop critical supply chains, and move the UK closer to its target of a decarbonised power grid by 2030. In terms of renewable energy announcements, however, there was even less in-depth policy although Labour’s ambition to increase EV use was on display. A strong commitment to support not only GB Energy but also the Sovereign Wealth Fund were referred to, but we will look to the coming weeks for more detailed proposals.
It is, however, undoubted that this Budget will go down as (in the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby) as a rather brave decision, but in CalComms’ view it could go down as a big drag on growth given the huge additional borrowing and taxes applied.