Font hosts Labour Party roundtable
What does the Labour Party have planned for its manifesto and how can we help shape its policies? That’s the question we asked some of the North West’s leading property figureheads when we hosted a roundtable to explore what priority policies will be front and centre as the Party sets its sights on forming the next Government.
Ahead of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool next month, we sat around the table with Phil Mayall, managing director (North West) for Muse, Andrew Pexton, regional director (North West) for Harworth Group, Georgina Lynch, managing director for PJ Livesey and Adam Higgins, co-founder of Capital&Centric.
It’s no secret that the current economic and political environment will make it difficult for Labour to restore spending to pre-austerity levels. In fact, Leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves have “read the riot act” to the Shadow Cabinet in an effort to reign in any unfunded commitments or policies between now and the General Election.
In the context of “iron-clad fiscal discipline” the role of the private sector has never been more prevalent if the country is going to hit its housing and regeneration targets. But what are the key policy changes that will deliver growth, easily, quickly and cheaply?
We debated key policy areas, from levelling up and housing, to planning reform and devolution.
Planning remains a big issue and can be a barrier to growth, but rather than wholesale reform (which as the current Government are finding isn’t quick to implement) the group felt there were some quick and easy wins which could speed the whole process up. For example, reducing the number of reports required during the pre-application stage; better resourced planning departments (even if that meant increasing planning fees!); and a regional approach to housing targets.
With Greater Manchester MP and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner now taking on the Levelling Up brief the importance of devolution was a big point of discussion. Greater Manchester was singled out as being the “envy of London” for its ability to get things done and it was felt that greater devolution could be the key to growth and levelling up.
The one thing everyone agreed on was the need for the Labour Party to continue its dialogue with business and listen to the collective experience of the companies on the ground delivering transformative regeneration projects.
At Font Comms, we love a good debate! If you’re thinking about hosting a roundtable event and you’re not sure how to get started, contact nicky@fontcomms.com