Chancellor Rachel Reeves during the recent election campaign
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to set out vision to boost growth across the UK economy, as she rules out a return to austerity
Labour will this week attempt to boost confidence in the UK's economic prospects at its annual conference in Liverpool, as Ministers rule out a return to austerity and unveil a series of policies designed to catalyse green investment.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who will deliver the keynote address to the conference this afternoon, this morning stressed that despite the fiscal 'black hole' Labour inherited from the Conservative government she still intended to increase public spending over the course of the Parliament.
"There won't be a return to austerity," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "There will be real-terms, increases to government spending in this parliament."
However, she declined to rule out that some departments could face cuts, as she again highlighted how the new government needed to tackle the £22bn budget 'black hole' faced by the Treasury and warned that "a number of difficult decisions around tax and spending and welfare" would feature in the upcoming Autumn Budget.
"I think the public get that the reason the Conservatives lost the election is not because the economy was doing well and public services were in great shape," she said. "People understand that there are difficult choices ahead, but what I'm setting up today in my conference speech is the prize if we can bring stability back to our economy."
The speech is set to be precursor for Keir Starmer's first conference address as Prime Minister later this week, where he will seek to provide further detail on Labour's growth plans, including its plans for green investment. In interviews over the weekend, he insisted Labour would defend key public services from further spending cuts and talked up proposals to put a "rocket booster" under housebuilding hands.
Yesterday, the government announced it would consult on a new Decent Homes Standard for the rented sector and confirmed it would bring forwards Awaab's Law for the social rented sector this autumn, providing tenants with enhanced rights to ensure hazards such as damp and mould are investigated and remedied to set timescales.
It also launched a call for evidence on how to accelerate building on brownfield sites in urban areas, including proposals for a 'planning passport' to ensure that where new buildings meet pre-agreed design and quality standards the default would be for local authorities to approve them.
"A call for evidence will be launched on options to further increase certainty in relation to brownfield development," the government said. "These will include bold proposals that provide far greater clarity as to the principle, scale, and form of brownfield development with a view to lowering the risk, cost and uncertainty associated with securing planning permissions."
Starmer said the plans were a "game-changer" that have been warmly welcomed by developers and would provide a major boost to the government's efforts to build 1.5 million new homes within five years.
Green groups have been calling on the government to prioritise brownfield development over new projects on green belt land and ensure new homes are subject to ambitious standards that can drastically improve energy efficiency, accelerate the roll out of clean technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps, and reduce emissions and energy bills.
Separately, Environment Secretary Steve Reed is expected to this afternoon provide further details on plans to increase investment in new water infrastructure that can help tackle record levels of sewage spills.
Reports suggested he will unveil new plans that would require water companies to ensure all the money raised through increases to water bills is channelled into infrastructure upgrades.
"The work to fix our broken sewage system starts immediately with tens of billions of pounds of private-sector investment that will create good, well-paid jobs in every part of the country," Reed is expected to tell the conference. "That's the biggest-ever investment in our water sector and the second biggest in any part of the economy during the lifetime of this government."
"The Conservatives stood back and watched as raw sewage polluted our rivers and customers' money was funnelled into multimillion pound bonuses and dividend payments while our sewage system crumbled," Reed will add. "I'm calling time on all that today. This government of service will fix the foundations and clean up our waterways."
Reed will be followed on the main stage by Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband, who is set to showcase Labour's plans to make the UK a "clean energy superpower" and deliver on its goal of building a clean power system by 2030.
The latest plans are likely to be welcomed by green groups and Labour Party members, but the leadership will also be under mounting pressure to change the fiscal rules that are restricting the ability of the new government to borrow to invest in infrastructure upgrades.
Last week, the scale of the fiscal challenge faced by Reeves was further underlined by an update from the Office for National Statistics that confirmed Britains's national debt had reached 100 per cent of GDP - it's highest level since the 1960s.
But speaking on the sidelines of the conference yesterday several union leaders argued the best way for the government to catalyse growth and deliver on its green goals was to borrow to invest.
"They've got to step out of the straitjacket they've put themselves in economically with these fiscal rules," said RMT leader Mick Lynch. "They've got to be bolder. It's got to start with Rachel Reeves changing her position. If you use Tory fiscal measures you'll get Tory results."
You can now sign up to attend the fifth annual Net Zero Festival, which will be hosted by BusinessGreen on October 22-23 at the Business Design Centre in London.
