UK Prime Minister Starmer’s Plan for Change   

Context

In a highly trailed speech, the prime minister has today sought to refine his five missions for government. This is not the “emergency reset” that the opposition have claimed it to be. In fact, the “Plan for Change” has been worked on within government since the summer.  

No.10 does, however, consider this speech to be a key moment to set a new baseline by which the government should be judged at the election in five years’ time. The argument from No.10 is that it was always the intention to provide more granular detail on how the five overarching missions for government will be implemented. Five months after the General Election, this is also realistically the last opportunity for the government to credibly amend the objectives they want to set for their administration.  

The intended audience for today’s speech was not just the voting public. It is also an attempt to focus the Whitehall machine on driving the government’s delivery objectives. It is to ensure the civil service is responding to the mandate for change and the scale of the ambition the government claims it has for the country. It is also to lay the groundwork required to frame the difficult choices that will be needed in the second phase of the spending review in the spring.  

While No.10 has consistently rejected the idea that this is a “reset,” there is undeniably the hope that today’s announcements, combined with the appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary, will allow them to regain control of the political narrative.  

What has been announced?

The prime minister announced six “milestones” to accompany his previous five “missions” for government. Framed as “measurable deliverables,” the government’s ambition is to deliver on all the milestones by the end of this Parliament.  

The six milestones include:  

• Raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, so working people have more money in their pocket with the aim of delivering the highest sustained growth in the G7. This milestone seeks to address the stagnation in income growth experienced by households in recent years and goes to the heart of No.10’s drive to ensure voters feel the tangible benefits of Labour’s policies. Building on the Autumn Budget 2024, the government aims to restore stability, increase investment, and reform the economy to drive up productivity, prosperity, and living standards across the UK. The Plan for Change states the level of growth needed “can only be achieved in partnership with businesses, so we will develop and deliver these policies together.”  
• Building 1.5 million homes in England and fast-tracking planning decisions on at least 150 major economic infrastructure projects. The prime minister’s speech included a commitment to triple the number of approvals for major infrastructure schemes compared to the last Parliament by streamlining the approval process in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Starmer described the current planning system as a “blockage in our economy that is so big it obscures an entire future,” adding that it was preventing the construction of projects including roads, grid connections, laboratories, rail lines, power stations, and wind farms.
• Ending hospital backlogs to meet the NHS standard of 92% of patients in England waiting no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment. Recognizing that public satisfaction with NHS services is at a record low, the government plans to invest nearly GBP 26 billion in the NHS over two years, focusing on fundamental reforms to improve care delivery, embrace technology, and prioritize prevention. The 10 Year Health Plan (currently out for consultation) aims to bring care closer to communities, modernize the NHS with digital technologies, and shift focus from sickness to prevention. This is ultimately how this milestone will be tested by the end of this Parliament.
• Putting police back on the beat with a named officer for every neighbourhood, and 13,000 additional officers, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and special constables in neighborhood roles in England and Wales. With a nod to the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee that was announced earlier this week, the government plans to add 13,000 police officers, PCSOs, and special constables to neighbourhood roles, ensuring “visible and responsive policing.” In addition to police numbers, this milestone will also be measured against raising standards in policing, harnessing technology, increasing efficiency, and improving accountability to enhance public confidence and safety.
• Giving children the best start in life, with a record 75% of 5-year-olds in England ready to learn when they start school. In terms of measuring this milestone, the government will work towards ensuring that, by 2028, 75% of 5-year-olds reach a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment—which looks at children’s development across areas like language, personal, social and emotional development, and maths and literacy. This would be an increase from 67.7% currently and would mean an additional 40,000 to 45,000 children a year hitting developmental goals.
• Securing home-grown energy, protecting billpayers, and putting us on track to at least 95% Clean Power by 2030, while accelerating the UK to net zero. The government aims to secure the UK’s energy supply with home-grown, clean power by 2030, reducing reliance on volatile international fossil fuel markets. This is intertwined with the economic growth mission, including the creation of jobs and driving investment into British manufacturing and innovation, particularly in industrial heartlands. The milestone focuses on accelerating to net zero, protecting the environment, and ensuring energy security and lower bills for consumers. To achieve this particular milestone, initiatives include lifting the ban on onshore wind, increasing solar power, and setting up Great British Energy to drive clean power generation. 

Analysis

This set-piece speech had the feel of how Labour campaigned in the General Election. After a baptism of fire in early days of the government and the flurry of overseas engagements, there is a drive to get back to focusing upon the domestic agenda, which is, ultimately, what Labour was elected to do. This event was recognition that the government needs to demonstrate delivery on the issues that came up on the doorstep during the election.  

Keir Starmer said today that he was doubling down on his missions for government and that they had remained consistent and robust in the two years since they were published. In his speech he retained the five missions to be achieved in a decade of national renewal but added specific subsidiary milestones under each to be achieved in this Parliament.  

Despite the speculation in advance, the mission to achieve the highest growth in the G7 remains the overarching economic aim. The timescale for achieving it “in this Parliament,” however, has been dropped and a more achievable aim of delivering an improvement in real disposable household income added as a milestone.  

Like the disposable income target, some of the other new milestones certainly look more attainable than the original missions; growth in the number of police officers is already on trend to deliver the extra 13,000 officers and the new 95% clean electricity target is the realistic outcome of the net zero mission. Other milestones, however, look equally as challenging as the original missions: building 1.5 million new homes by the end of the Parliament is certainly seen in the construction sector as hugely ambitious. For some of the new milestones, Starmer was entirely accurate when he said that he was embracing the jeopardy that came from setting targets that may not be reached.    

It is, however, hard to look beyond the reality that today’s announcements are at best an evolution of the government’s targets, at worst different to those that Keir Starmer committed to at the election. It is also reasonable to point to the complexity of the myriad of different objectives; the government now has three foundations, five missions, six first steps, six milestones, and seven pillars of growth—all still in place.  

With this broad set of ambitions, the prime minister also said today’s plan was the gauntlet being thrown down to Whitehall. It is certainly true that the civil service machine will have a lot to respond to. Stating that “too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline,” the prime minister warned the public sector that it will not be subsidized with higher borrowing and taxation when its productivity is over 2% lower this year compared to last. With so many targets, however, the risk is the clarity of purpose across Whitehall that he is seeking to achieve is diluted.  

Regardless of the other new or amended objectives, economic growth will remain this government’s fundamental challenge. It is growth—however defined or targeted—that will determine this government’s ability to deliver all other missions and milestones.  

It may therefore turn out to be a mistake not to have included more growth driving measures, such as skills and attracting investment, more prominently within the milestones, in part to seek to improve business confidence. When questioned on this, Starmer pointed to the ability to secure an NHS appointment as a driver of growth. This is something economists might agree with in theory but not something businesses would put at the top of their priority list.

To a certain extent the growth challenge will fall to the chancellor. With her ambitious tax and borrowing budget in October, Reeves has sought to use her political capital early in the Parliament to make bold decisions for long term benefit. The challenge for her now will be to ensure this translates into delivery of the economic growth mission. This is easier said than done. If the spending review in the Spring does not improve business confidence in her plans or she has to come back to Parliament for new taxes and borrowing at next year’s budget, the pressure on her will only increase. The criticism that all the main political problems of this government stem from No.11 will grow, as will the calls to increase the economic expertise in No.10 to sense check these decisions.   

Materials presented by Edelman’s Public & Government Affairs experts. For additional information, reach out to Mohammed.Hussein@EdelmanEGA.com