Transport Planning Associates (TPA)

  The recent State Opening of Parliament – the first since the Labour Party’s return to power in July under Sir Keir Starmer – offered no shortage of the pomp and ceremony that characterises such fundamental state occasions.  Of particular relevance for transport consultants , however, were the transport-related elements of His Majesty King Charles III’s most gracious speech, which revealed much about the new Government’s agenda for the 2024-25 parliamentary session.  While they were far from the only proposed pieces of legislation of interest to stakeholders in the UK’s highways and transport infrastructure, the below five bills announced in the King’s Speech look set to shape much of the Starmer ministry’s approach to this aspect of national life.   The Planning and Infrastructure Bill  Having criticised the UK’s present planning regime as “a major brake on economic growth”, the Government has described reformation of the planning system as impo...