Baroness Janke
Main Page: Baroness Janke (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Baroness Williams of Trafford
My Lords, all these things go hand in hand: infrastructure, education, and the infrastructure and provision of health services all make for the health and prosperity of the city region.
Baroness Janke (LD)
My Lords, have the Government considered how European and international cities raise money for infrastructure? They are empowered to borrow money on the private market and to raise taxes for revenue schemes in order to pay those off in the long term. Have the Government considered doing that or are we still condemned to queue up behind each other at the Department for Transport, waiting to hear what it has chosen for cities in the way of infrastructure?
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The noble Baroness raises what is at the heart of the Government’s encouragement here. There are cities, globally and in Europe, that are much more culturally disposed to using their pension funds for investing in infrastructure. The Ontario teachers’ fund is a very good example of a fund that invests 6% per annum in infrastructure projects.