Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has said that tackling planning system problems and spiralling house prices will be priorities in the next government spending review.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Amicus union, which was formed in January by the merger of the Manufacturing, Science, Finance (MSF) Union and the Amalgamated, Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU), the chancellor said that the review “will do more to remove barriers to planning and housing”.
Brown added: “Instead of congestion, overheating and pressure on house prices in one part of the UK, and emigration, depopulation and unemployment in other parts – we can ensure balanced economic growth in all parts of our country.”
Brown confirmed that Health and Transport infrastructure will be the main focus of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which is published in July and sets out the government’s spending parameters for the next three years.
He said: “For too long there has been chronic underinvestment in our infrastructure. Our Spending Review will update our £180bn, 10-year plan to modernise our transport system – the biggest public investment programme in transport history.”
EGi News 11/06/02
