Gareth Davies
Main Page: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Bourne)Department Debates - View all Gareth Davies's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Gareth Davies (Grantham and Bourne) (Con)
The Chancellor has lauded the new National Wealth Fund as a key part of the Government’s regional growth ambitions. The trouble is, it is not actually new; it is just the UK Infrastructure Bank with a new colour scheme and £7 billion it did not need. The Prime Minister announced at a recent Labour party political conference that he will allocate £200 million from the National Wealth Fund for Grangemouth, but it is supposed to be operationally independent. Will the Minister therefore confirm that that is still the case and that the full independent investment process was followed? Will he also confirm that the unexpected resignation of the National Wealth Fund CEO just days before that announcement is not connected?
Darren Jones
I find it odd that Members on the Conservative Benches do not welcome an additional £7 billion of investment into our economy; it is rather a testament to their poor performance on investment over many years in government. To answer the hon. Gentleman’s specific questions, I can confirm that each of the business cases for Grangemouth will have to go through the normal process for sign off, and that John Flint leaving the National Wealth Fund is not in any way connected to the decisions taken by this Government. We look forward to appointing his successor in due course.