A sweeping overhaul of the unwieldy planning system will be at the heart of a government-commissioned report published on Friday that advocates fresh spending on roads, railways and ports to cut jams and journey times.

Sir Rod Eddington, the former British Airways chief executive commissioned by Gordon Brown to solve the nation's transport problems, is to recommend changes to the planning regime that could knock years off the time taken to build projects such as the M6 toll road.