National Federation of Builders Policy team attended the Labour Party Conference and observed and analysed the key announcements relating to fiscal policy, skills and apprenticeships, net zero and retrofit, construction, infrastructure, and housing, announced by the Labour Party at their annual conference in Liverpool between 8^th and 11^th October 2023.

Key Announcements – Overview

• Sir Kier Starmer’s leader’s speech pledged 1.5 million homes over the next parliament, a generation of ‘new towns,’ giving mayors greater housing and planning powers, fast-track brownfield developments, and a “blitz” of reforms to accelerate planning decisions.

• Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner pledged Labour would deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing for a generation, unlocking government grants to deliver new homes by making the Affordable Housing Programme more flexible. The party said it would stop developers ‘wriggling out’ of responsibilities.

• Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves has pledged to review the rules on building on greenbelt land to meet housing needs.

• Labour reportedly wants to build new towns next to existing rail connections, considering building between London, Oxford, and Cambridge

• Sir Keir pledged to guarantee police patrols in town centres and repeat offenders also risk being banned from them under new powers.

• Labour said they will empower regulators to ban bonuses to water chiefs whose firms pump excess sewage into rivers and strengthen fines and powers to prosecute their leaders.