The Labour Party’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has been meeting with banks and asset managers like BlackRock and Lloyds Banking Group as the party looks to hit the ground running on housing and energy plans.
Members of the British Infrastructure Council, which act as an independent advisors, are focusing on insulation, double glazing and other energy-saving measures across the UK, as well as making housing viable for developers, Bloomberg reported.
Prior to the meeting, which took place on Monday, Reeves said: “I am determined that a Labour government will hit the ground running to show that Britain is open for business and to begin to attract the investment we need to make working people better off.”
Labour is widely expected to win the upcoming election, so the council is clearly preparing plans for government.
Reeves has been telling workers and reporters that, if it is elected, Labour’s focus will be on incentivising local authorities to kickstart development.
Reeves added: “Where a place hosts infrastructure they should get something back from that — whether it’s discounts on their energy bills or better local infrastructure.
“We really have to focus on wealth creation and that means reforming the planning system so we can actually get stuff built again.”
The British Infrastructure Council first met in late November, with attendees including leaders from Lloyds, HSBC, Santander UK, Phoenix, Fidelity and US firm BlackRock.