An influential think tank has argued that the government should aim to triple GDP in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor
The government should establish a development corporation to drive growth and construction in the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor, according to a think tank with link to the Labour party leadership.
In a new report released today, Labour Together called on ministers to establish a “single powerful development corporation that can bypass local politics”.
The think tank, which was previously led by Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, argued that Parliament should determine the size of the corridor, set a target to triple GDP within it by 2050, and then hand over implementation to the corporation, which would have supreme planning authority.
“It will ask local politicians for advice about how to do things, not permission for whether to do them. This is a nationally significant project; its level of ambition should be set by national politicians,” the report said.
Development corporations are statutory bodies set up to drive large-scale urban regeneration. Typically, they have the ability to develop local plans, assemble land with compulsory purchase powers, build infrastructure, and attract investment.
Labour Together said the corporation should also have the power to discharge environmental regulations in the area, rather than leaving them with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
The Oxford-Cambridge corridor is a central part of the government’s growth strategy. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has dubbed it “Europe’s Silicon Valley” and announced £500m in investment to the two university cities in October.
The funding will go towards affordable homes, new rail links, and support for business expansion in the area. A report from Public First, a consultancy firm, has suggested that the corridor could add £78bn to the UK economy by 2035.
To help ensure political buy-in for the project, Labour Together suggested that “aggressive land value capture” was a way to ensure that the project could be self-funding.
“DevCos are money-printing machines because they can buy land, grant planning permission then sell it for a much higher price,” the report said.
It argued that the corporation needed to have the financial autonomy to operate at scale and with 25-year horizons, which would mean giving it the ability to borrow outside the fiscal rules and to negotiate its own commercial deals.
“Ox-Cam must add to investment in the rest of the country, not subtract from it,” the report said.
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