Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Bill

Denis MacShane Excerpts

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

We are introducing the Bill because a number of key infrastructure projects in this country that are close to starting construction are being held back as a result of the difficulties they face in accessing finance. These difficulties are not because of poor commercial or economic viability of projects, but because of temporary capacity constraints in debt markets and significantly longer lead times to secure lending commitments. Accordingly, we are expediting this Bill so that we can provide the necessary financial assistance as quickly as possible and provide confidence to the markets that the Government will be in a position to do so. Once Parliament approves the Bill we will be able to complete formal negotiations with project providers over financial assistance, which we would like to do as quickly as possible to prevent costly and unnecessary delay. I therefore thank Opposition Members and the Opposition’s Front-Bench representatives for agreeing to expedite the Bill.

The measures that the Bill will make possible—financial assistance to infrastructure and housing projects worth tens of billions of pounds—have received widespread support, particularly from the business community. They are supported, for example, by the Confederation of British Industry, which says that our approach

“marks a big step towards unlocking the…investment needed to renew our national infrastructure,”

and that our proposals

“will provide a much-needed tonic for the construction sector, getting diggers on site and people into work. It will make a difference to households across the country.”

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

I support the main thrust of the Bill, but on Sunday last week I drove my son to start his studies at Edinburgh university and the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh, which is a single-carriageway road, was clogged up with tractors and hay balers. It is extraordinary that, in contemporary Britain, the access road to one of our main capital cities belongs to the back of beyond in Bangladesh. Can we do anything to dual-carriageway that road? It is close to the Chief Secretary’s constituency as well as mine.

[Danny Alexander]

I think that my constituents in the highlands would say that describing it as close to my constituency might be a misuse of the word “close”, but none the less I recognise the right hon. Gentleman’s point. I gently observe that his party had 13 years in office to deal with that project, although I mean no disrespect to him in saying so.