New Government - The Andersons Centre

Following its landslide victory in the General Election, the new Labour administration is starting to bed-in.

In farming terms, the former Shadow Defra team have been installed into Ministerial posts – meaning there should be little need for them to get up-to-speed on policy issues. Steve Reed has become Defra Secretary of State and Daniel Zeichner has a junior position as Minister of State. Mr Zeichner, MP for Cambridge, will be in charge of the farming portfolio as he was in the Shadow Cabinet. Steve Barclay currently retains the Defra brief in Rishi Sunak’s new Shadow Cabinet.

Mr Reed (MP for Streatham and Croydon North) has already set out his five priorities for Defra;

to clean up rivers, lakes and seas
to move Britain to a zero-waste economy
to boost food security
to ensure nature’s recovery
to protect communities from the dangers of flooding

At present, there is little flesh on the bones of these priorities. The Labour Manifesto was notably silent on specific commitments to farming.

Labour’s longer-term legislative priorities were set out in the King’s Speech on 17^th July. Over 35 potential Bills were announced. Boosting economic growth by easing Planning rules was the centrepiece of the programme. A Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be introduced which aims to ‘speed up and streamline the planning process to build more homes of all tenures and accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects’. The new Government is already showing its priorities under existing powers.

the end to the de facto ban on onshore wind
reinstating mandatory housebuilding targets for Local Authorities (however, as many of these targets were never met in the past, it will be interesting to see what practical effect this has)
the recruitment of 300 new Planning Officers to help reduce the backlog of applications
prioritising energy infrastructure, with decisions being made in relation to the national interest (including the effect on growth) rather than just local considerations. Three large-scale solar farms have been approved in England, totaling 6,500 acres of farmland, which had been waiting for a Ministerial decision. There had been strong local opposition to all three.

The transition to clean energy is a wider theme of the new Government. A Bill will be enacted to set up GB Energy, a company headquartered in Scotland, that aims to accelerate investment in renewable energy. There will be increased protection for workers (and cost for employers) under a new Employment Rights Bill. A Renters Rights bill will give greater rights to tenants in England, including ending section 21 notices to quit. New legislation will strengthen the powers of the water regulator – partly to improve water quality in rivers. There will also be an English Devolution Bill aiming to pass power from Whitehall to the regions – but seemingly requiring Councils to come together in larger administrative units.

If you found this article useful, there are numerous additional articles published each month on our Professional Update bulletin service. You can access a no obligation 90-day free trial via the link below.