Economy: Private Capital Investment

Lord Lawson of Blaby Excerpts

Tuesday 20th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, to be clear, the three measures that I mentioned in my opening Answer were indeed new and additional measures, the costings of which are given in the Autumn Statement.

[Lord Lawson of Blaby]

Does my noble friend expect that the important changes in the relationship with the Royal Bank of Scotland that the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced yesterday might lead to more lending by the Royal Bank of Scotland to small and medium-sized enterprises?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, that is a very interesting question. The board of RBS has made it clear that it is going to concentrate its business on its corporate and personal banking and therefore, certainly relative to its total business, it will indeed achieve that.