Building a strong, competitive economy

It was also at UKREIIF that we at Bidwells launched our latest flagship research publication; “The Productivity Engine”. Taking soundings across a broad suite of experts including, colleagues, clients, academics and generally folk with a vested interest in the success of our country, it is a collection of essays which are insightful, accessible and, dare I say it, on the money.

The report concluded that failures across housing, innovation, city and power and infrastructure policy resulted in the average person being £9,000 worse off than before the Global Financial Crisis. With the implications of this for tax, health and social care, housing and education it is an issue of national importance. 
As my colleague Mike Derbyshire wrote, there is a delicate balance between economic ambition, environmental concerns, and societal well-being but often decisions in the national interest can often stumble due to overly complex bureaucracy.

But I digress, whilst there has always been a requirement on policy makers and decision takers to create the conditions in which businesses can invest, expand and adapt; other voices have often displaced this when it comes to local decision making. 

However, with economic growth now at the heart of the national mission, there is a specific requirement for planning policies to identify appropriate sites for commercial development which meets the need of a modern economy. This includes (but on my reading is not limited to) labs, giga-factories, data centres, digital infrastructure and freight and investment. When coupled with the potential to trigger the titled balance, this requirement could be a tour-de-force in application narratives.

Looking to the Oxford-Cambridge Region, I recently shared the Supercluster Board’s Open Letter to Sir Keir with 45 preeminent signatures urging government to act on the potential of the region to turbocharge economic growth. 

Well, I’m pleased that there is specific call out within the proposed NPPF text. Decision makers are required to recognise locational requirements of industry. This includes 1) provision for knowledge intensive ecosystems and the infrastructure require to support their growth; and critically 2) the expansion or modernisation of other industries of local, regional or national importance to support economic growth and resilience. Along with the increased emphasis on planning strategically for sustainable growth across boundaries, this is a game changer, and we should applaud the country’s leadership for tackling this head on. 

I also can’t wait for the national scheme of delegation, but more on that, and the Green Belt, another day.