In its first week in office, the new Labour government has announced a series of economic policies aimed at addressing key national issues. From setting new housebuilding targets to launching the National Wealth Fund, these initiatives are designed to stimulate growth and bolster the UK's infrastructure and defence capabilities. Here's a summary of the major policy announcements from their initial days in power.

1. Chancellor Rachel Reeves brings back housebuilding targets for England

In her first speech as chancellor, Ms Reeves also said she would overhaul planning restrictions and end the effective ban on onshore wind farms in England in order to speed up national infrastructure projects.

She said the government would make the "tough" and "hard choices" to fix the economy, adding that the UK had lagged behind other developed nations for years.

She confirmed Labour planned to build 1.5 million homes in England over the course of this parliament, but said it was not a "green light" to any kind of housing development.

While these policy areas are devolved to Scotland, benefits will likely be brought to Scottish contractors which operate in England.

2. Launch of the New National Wealth Fund

The new NWF was unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and work is already underway to align the UK Infrastructure Bank and the British Business Bank into its workings.

The NWF, immediately supported by £7.3bn in allocated funding through the UK Infrastructure Bank, aims to deliver transformative investments across every part of the country with a view to replacing but enhancing the economic benefits brought to the beneficiaries of the previous Conservative Government's Levelling Up Fund.

It will be chaired by the Green Finance Institute (GFI) and a supporting Taskforce, set up a few months ago, which includes former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Barclays CEO C.S Venkatakrishnan, Aviva CEO Dame Amanda Blanc and large institutional investors.

The Taskforce will commence work on identifying investment priority areas, and has presented its findings to Reeves and Ed Milliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero.

3. Increased Investment in Defence Spending and Production

The Labour government will not increase spending on the military unless it is also able to grow the economy, the armed forces minister has said, as Keir Starmer comes under pressure to say when Britain’s defence spending will hit 2.5% of GDP.

Luke Pollard said on Wednesday the government wanted to hit the target promised by the former prime minister Rishi Sunak, but would not be able to do so without economic growth. Between increasing the numbers of of active-duty armed forces personnel and channeling funds to the defence production industry due to the depletion of UK ammunition stocks in light of our ongoing provision of materiel to Ukraine, these objectives will likely take some time to accomplish, but will deliver long-term benefits to the UK's military and economic security.

4. Remaining Focussed on Delivering Economic Growth

The new Labour government must stay “laser-focused” on capitalising on the positive signs in the UK economy and delivering growth, influential business groups have said.

In Keir Starmer’s first press conference as prime minister on Saturday, he pledged to chair new “mission delivery boards" to “drive through change” and enact Labour's manifesto commitments, which include stimulating economic growth, investing in clean energy, and improving opportunity through a new skills agenda.

Louise Hellem, the chief economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), responded: “Businesses will be looking at the general election, and the clear mandate given to the incoming government, as a reset moment for the economy. That means looking to the new government to hit the ground running and staying laser-focused on delivering growth. It’s those tough decisions, taken early, that will help us to attract investment, seize growth opportunities and revitalise our pitch to global investors.”