Phillip Blond, Director of ResPublica, said “Today’s Autumn Statement was an attempt to marry Reaganomics to Rooseveltian intervention. Continuity was the message of the day when it came to tax cuts for corporations, low-paid individuals and motorists – with the strategic reductions promised by Osborne confirmed and continued by his replacement. As America looks set to slash corporation tax – and as inflation begins to bite – this ‘steady as she goes’ approach is sensible. Meanwhile, on infrastructure, the country will finally benefit from some of the large-scale investment that ResPublica – amongst others – has been calling for. The £23 billion fund for innovation and infrastructure is a much-needed step in the right direction.

Throughout the Autumn Statement, Hammond returned again and again to the dilemmas and the difficulties posed by productivity. This is an issue of long-standing interest to the new Chancellor and he rightly grasps the urgency of closing both the productivity gap between North and South and that between the wider UK and our peer economies. As Hammond observed, this is not an abstract issue – it is the reason that people in this country work longer and harder, for less money, than they should. Reviving the fortunes of post-industrial Britain – and safeguarding our economy against the dangers of Brexit – demands radical and transformative answers to our productivity crises. It is exciting and encouraging that this Government appears to grasp the centrality of this issue to the UK’s social and economic flourishing and ResPublica will be feeding in new ideas in the coming weeks and months to support this welcome focus.

Brexit, Trump and the rising cost of fuel are all storms that buffet the British economy. Our Chancellor has little control over any of them directly. But today – in his first major ‘fiscal event’ – Philip Hammond showed that he grasps the factors that are making the weather and is determined to hold the economic ship together”

Housing & Planning

The Chancellor’s announcement to build 40, 000 affordable homes is welcome.

ResPublica has long called for an increased in housing, and in recent report Going to Scale gained cross-party support in setting out proposals for a National Housing Fund that could deliver up to 75,000 rented homes a year over the long-term. Earlier this month, in Great Estates, ResPublica found that new approaches are needed to fund regeneration schemes around the country to support life chances and deliver new homes.

The Government’s ambition to introduce flexibility on grant rules; deliver a Housing Infrastructure Fund of £2.3 billion to unlock sites for development; and provide £1.4 billion for affordable housing are all welcome measures to increase the scale of housing delivery, and will ensure that housebuilding meets different housing needs. Efforts to improve private renting through the abolition of letting agent fees is also important, not least because it will support young people looking to save up to eventually own their own home.

Edward Douglas, Housing Lead at ResPublica, said “The Government, in announcing £1.4 billion for affordable housing, has today clearly recognised the need we set out in Going to Scale last week to invest in housing to deliver at least 40,000 homes across tenure types.

“The major investment to unlock large sites for development through a new Housing Infrastructure Fund is welcome, but the forthcoming White Paper on housing should seek to address other problems to ensure we deliver the homes we need on the sites this unlocks. Our proposals for a National Housing Fund would maximise the potential of the Government’s plans because it would fuel efforts of developers and housing associations to build.

“Finally, the Government’s commitment to introduce flexibility in the rules on grants to deliver a wider range of homes is less likely to make the headlines. But it will allow providers and developers to make best use of existing government funding and, crucially, better meet the needs of all people in all parts of the country – and ultimately help to bridge the home ownership divide.”

Further to the success of Going to Scale and Great Estates, we are taking forward a full programme of work on housing.

Our Backing Beauty campaign calls for community involvement in planning, as well as the restoration of beauty to the heart of planning policy

Duncan Sim, who heads our campaign said, “The acknowledgement that concerns about local infrastructure capacity represent a major source of objections to the delivery of new housing is welcome. Yet it is vital that this infrastructure is understood not only in terms of new roads, schools, and other physical amenities, but also in terms of the broader public realm, such as local parks and green space; the future of such spaces has been the subject of considerable public concern, demonstrated over the past months through outlets such as the Communities and Local Government Committee’s recent inquiry. 

The Government’s decision to grant £7.6 million to the restoration of Wentworth House shows that it recognises the importance of heritage and beauty, yet it is neither possible nor appropriate to have Government intervene from the top down in this way across the country. That is why we have, through our Backing Beauty Commission, called for additional powers to be devolved to local authorities and communities to discern, protect and create beauty in their areas. We would have liked to have seen the Government act to encourage neighbourhood planning in deprived areas, where ResPublica’s research suggests communities are currently three times less likely to be forming such plans relative to more affluent areas.”

The Just About Managing