David Cameron and Nick Clegg to Unveil Planning Laws Overhaul

Britain's planning rules are set for an overhaul as the government prepares to announce reforms and new legislation aimed at easing the bureaucratic burden for construction firms.

The move is designed to stimulate infrastructure projects held up by complex laws, and push the economy back to growth.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will unveil the details in a joint statement on Thursday, such as doubling the amount of space permitted for extending property.

The proposed legislation will allow the government to underwrite infrastructure projects, as previously announced by the Treasury in an initiative potentially worth £40bn and entitled the UK Guarantees Scheme.

"We're determined to cut through the bureaucracy that holds us back," Cameron and Clegg are set to say, according to Reuters.

"That starts with getting the planners off our backs. Getting behind the businesses that have the ambition to expand. And meeting the aspirations of families that want to buy or improve a home."

The government has already set up a Cabinet sub-committee for growth implementation, to be chaired by Chancellor George Osborne, which will review the state of planning laws in the UK and how they may be holding back the economy.

Business Secretary Vince Cable will play the role of vice-chairman for the sub-committee, which will fall under the Cabinet's economic affairs committee and try to bring down the regulatory hurdles perceived to stand in the way of growth, particularly in infrastructure investment.

Kenneth Clarke, the former justice secretary who has been transferred to the Treasury to assist Osborne over the economy, and David Laws, the ex-chief secretary to the Treasury who was forced to resign over expenses fiddling in the early days of the coalition but has now returned to the Cabinet, will both sit on the new sub-committee.

The government also hired a new general in its battle for growth.

Paul Deighton, the chief executive of London 2012 organiser Locog, has been appointed to the government as a minister for economic delivery following the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Deighton will focus on Britain's infrastructure and the government's efforts to stimulate the construction sector.