Economy: Business Investment

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My noble friend is right to highlight the excellent news that Siemens is to invest £160 million in the Hull area. Hitachi’s announcement that it will move its global rail headquarters to the UK is a further vote of confidence in companies investing in the UK. Among other actions, the Government recently announced a new college to train the next generation of world-class engineers working on the construction of High Speed 2, and we hope that it will train up to 2,000 apprentices. This will provide further opportunities for young people to have secure, long-term careers.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

In response to an earlier question, the Minister said that GFCF was a narrow measure. However, is it not true that it also includes expenditure on buildings, including houses for rent? Therefore, the figures conceal a considerable loss of money in terms of the productive economy.

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

I am not sure that I agree with the noble Lord on that. What matters is the decisive action that the Government are taking to protect the economy in this period of global uncertainty. Our economic policy objective overall is to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries, and that has a focus on property, too. We want to create the most competitive tax system in the G20, make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business, and create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.