Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Bill

John Howell Excerpts

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

That is not my understanding of the position. In 2010, we added a little more than £2 billion in every year of the spending review to the capital headline figures set out by the previous Government. We added to that further in last year’s autumn statement by switching some money from current spending to capital spending, precisely because of the value that we ascribe to infrastructure projects.

In addition to the CBI, the proposals are supported by the British Chambers of Commerce, which said:

“Business will appreciate the pace with which the government is moving to put its new housing and infrastructure guarantees in place”.

They are supported by the National Housing Federation, which speaks for registered social landlords in this country. It said:

“This can play an important role in helping reduce development risk, boost returns and attract investors once the development is complete.”

[John Howell (Henley) (Con)]

I wonder whether my right hon. Friend has seen the survey that was published today by the CBI and KPMG, which shows that 97% of business leaders see the planning system as a big turn-off to allowing infrastructure to go forward.

[Danny Alexander]

I did see that survey. I note that it was conducted before the Government announced the guarantees plan. However, a subsequent snap-shot poll showed a widespread welcome from the business community for the Bill. My hon. Friend will know that we have made significant changes to the planning system, including in the announcements last week, that relate directly to the threshold for infrastructure projects. Those will allow more projects of a slightly smaller scale to go through the national process, rather than getting tied up in local processes.