Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a raft of new planning changes ahead of next month's Budget in her desperate bid to boost sluggish economic growth.
The Chancellor is scrambling to fill an estimated £30billion black hole in the public finances before she presents her next tax and spend package on 26 November.
She is said to be hoping that, by getting new planning changes through Parliament prior to the Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) watchdog will judge they could add about £3billon to the economy in the long term.
This would relieve some of the huge pressure on Ms Reeves to raise taxes again next month, in order to plug her spending gap.
But, even if the OBR does give a favourable view of the Government's growth measures, she is still expected to unveil a slew of levy hikes due to the perilous state of the public finances.
