Labour’s manifesto was predicated on delivering higher levels of economic growth and reforming the planning system to deliver an additional 1.5 million homes over the 5 years.

Since taking office, the new Government has published a series of legislative and policy proposals aimed at delivering its manifesto commitments, including a series of proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and to the ‘Standard Method’ for assessing housing need. EMC is to submit a high-level strategic response to the consultation, available below.

· The EMC response is intended to complement more detailed representations made by individual councils. In particular it: 

· Supports the Government’s emphasis on ‘plan-led’ planning, social housing delivery and strategic planning.

· Notes that levels of public investment in infrastructure have not kept pace with population and household growth in the East Midlands for some time, leading to poor outcomes for businesses and communities.

· Questions ‘greybelt’ as a new policy designation and suggests strategic greenbelt reviews would be a more effective mechanism of achieving the same objectives. 

· Questions the assumptions behind the new standard method and to what extent increasing supply in rural and suburban areas will make housing more ‘affordable’ – either by increasing wages or decreasing house prices.