NEARLY two-thirds of council officers said they are seeing housing and infrastructure projects delayed despite Labour promises to speed up building with changes in local authority funding.

A survey of senior council workers published today ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Spring Statement found 40 per cent do not think they have been given the means to follow through on building projects.

Labour recently announced changes to funding for councils in England.

Carried out by the Local Government Information Unit and the public-sector procurement entity Scape, the survey found 64 per cent of officers reported delays in projects.

A further 94 per cent called for more certainty in financing, such as multiyear financing settlements, many cited “funding” as the reason for delays.

More than a third (34 per cent) said the government’s shake-up of the council funding system could create short-term delays and 40 per cent said another major issue was skills shortages.