Spending Review 2020

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Grand Committee

[Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Con)]

My Lords, the Chancellor has rightly prioritised the Government’s approach to spending. Understandably, priority 1 is the need to protect people’s lives and livelihoods as the Government respond to coronavirus, and I welcome the plans outlined by the Minister to spend over £280 billion through the furlough scheme, support for the self-employed, loans, grants, tax cuts and tax deferrals. The second priority is delivering stronger public services, and with departmental spending set to be £540 billion, which I think my noble friend said represents a rise in real terms of 3.8%, there will be extra funding for schools, local authorities and the NHS. The third priority, the Government’s major investment plans in infrastructure to drive growth, create jobs and level up, though, is where I will focus my comments.

The Government’s recently published National Infrastructure Strategy appears to be a serious attempt finally to address decades of underinvestment in the UK’s infrastructure—a source of frustration to me for many years. I represented in my previous political life a constituency at the heart of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc: this growing regional economic powerhouse’s potential to contribute further to the economy has been constrained only by a lack of infrastructure, be that physical infrastructure—I am delighted to see the Government’s reconfirmed commitment to the east-west rail project that will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge—or virtual infrastructure, which is why the commitment to delivering superfast broadband is so vital. Indeed, it is made all the more essential now as we embrace a new way of working post Covid, with the creation of homeworking hubs.

With more than half of all infrastructure spending private, I particularly welcome the creation of a new national infrastructure bank to co-invest with private sector partners. However, if we are truly to unleash the economic potential of the UK through infrastructure investment, we must get the delivery right. For many years, my mantra has been “i before e”, or “infrastructure before expansion”. In areas of high growth such as the south Midlands, there remains a desperate need for new housing to attract skilled workers so that the Arc can continue to be an economic powerhouse. The commitment to a national home building fund to help to match this demand is most welcome.