PwC comment on the Chancellor’s economic growth speech

The Chancellor today placed economic growth as a ‘national mission’, with a clear plan to unlock housing and planning, green energy and infrastructure investment across the UK. 

Coupled with the Chancellor’s announcements, PwC launched its Framework for Growth research today exploring the attitudes and priorities of over 1200 business leaders for the UK achieving growth, and includes new economic analysis that projects the potential impact that improving the UK’s performance across key areas could have on the economy. 

PwC experts have provided insight on how the Government can pull levers on housing and planning, infrastructure projects, private finance and low carbon energy projects.

On overall plans for UK Infrastructure policy and delivery, Chris Scudamore, Infrastructure partner at PwC, said:

“The drive for long-term stability in infrastructure planning and investment is critical. New PwC research reveals 66% of business leaders believe the UK is trailing behind competitor countries in its infrastructure and planning. Reversing the UK’s position requires bold moves and the Chancellor is right that there is no time to lose. 

“We welcome the comments by the Chancellor to prioritise and accelerate decisions across the transport and energy sectors - potentially accelerating the development of much needed infrastructure - as well as signalling broader reform of planning; and a refresh of the policy intentions for critical national infrastructure. 

“The previously signalled the combination of the NIC and IPA as NISTA (National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority) has a key role in supporting the delivery of capital projects. 

“The alignment of NISTA, more directly with government policy, will give better political alignment and clearer government sponsorship to critical projects in their early stages. The new body also has the opportunity to become a delivery engine; driving forward nationally significant projects on an accelerated basis.”

On house building and planning, James Bailey, housing leader at PwC, said: 

“The Chancellor confirmed targets for the new Labour government of 300,000 homes a year - while a positive statement of intent, there are inevitably some questions at this initial stage. Measures to reform the planning framework will need to be part of a wider package of reforms to increase supply, focussed on bringing more developable land to market, widening the supplier base to support the growth of the SME sector and boost the output from the larger national housebuilders, whilst tackling the productivity, skills and capacity challenges in the sector.  As part of this package of measures, government should consider how it better promotes the use of mixed-tenure partnership models, through the targeted use of public investment where needed, to crowd in forms of private capital that scale up the provision of much-needed affordable and private rental housing across the country.” 

On private investment in infrastructure, Zoe Watters, public sector infrastructure partner at PwC, said:  

“As the Chancellor placed kick-starting infrastructure projects at the heart of her economic growth plans, there is still detail to be developed on how these projects will be funded. As the Chancellor hints, this can only come with a clear plan for funding. Given the constraints on public finances, this will likely come from an introduction of private capital, potentially through a blended model that can draw in private capital alongside available public capital. It’s all part of the complex challenge holding back infrastructure investment, along with planning, and will require a long-term commitment from both the public and private sectors.” 

Commenting on today's lifted ban on onshore wind in England, Vicky Parker, Head of Power and Utilities, said:

​”Today's decision to lift the ban on onshore wind in England​ is a pivotal step towards a more sustainable and energy-efficient future. Onshore wind power is an important part of the overall low-carbon generation portfolio that is needed to help deliver against net-zero targets and accelerate progress.   

“It’s crucial that the ramping up of onshore wind projects is carried out with careful consideration of environmental impacts to address the concerns of local communities and importantly, ensure projects are delivered at a competitive price. Investment in the right skills and supply chains to support this roll out will be critical to ensure that these benefits are realised. It is also essential that a whole-system view is developed quickly on how the country can meet accelerated targets and that the investment and support required is focused towards the most critical areas, in order to allow real progress to be made.”