Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to remove layers of bureaucracy and outdated regulations in a move she says will save UK businesses nearly £6 billion a year by the next election.
Speaking at the Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham, Reeves outlined a sweeping package of reforms targeting sluggish economic growth and seeking to attract investor confidence. She admitted Britain’s economy was “not working as it should” but vowed to “boldly regulate for growth, not hold business back with arbitrary rules.”
The reforms include simplifying corporate reporting for more than 100,000 firms, removing lengthy director reports, and overhauling merger review panels to give companies “greater certainty” during transactions. The Civil Aviation Authority will begin steps to enable commercial drone operations, while a new cross-economy artificial intelligence “sandbox” will let firms develop products under regulator supervision to speed approvals in areas such as legal services, planning and manufacturing.
Reeves also confirmed the government’s commitment to cut the cost of regulation by 25% by the end of Parliament — with the latest package contributing £1.5 billion toward that goal. The strategy forms part of Labour’s drive to reverse what the Chancellor described as years of underinvestment by previous Conservative governments.
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Highlighting major private investment pledges, Reeves pointed to £6.5 billion from US property group Welltower for new elderly care facilities, and the Crown Estate’s plans to develop land in Harwell East, Oxfordshire, with new lab and housing space. The National Wealth Fund will also channel £104 million into renewable and heat network projects across Norfolk, Orkney and Hull.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle added that if the UK had maintained its pre-2008 growth trend, national GDP would be 21% higher today, describing the situation as a “national growth emergency” requiring an urgent and coordinated response.
The measures follow Reeves’ “Leeds reforms” unveiled in July, which included loosening financial regulations and reforming bank ring-fencing to encourage “informed risk-taking” in the City, alongside ongoing planning reforms designed to “get back to building in Britain.”
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