Robert Flello
Main Page: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Vince Cable
The bank will not replace such investment. The whole purpose of our extensive market analysis has been to identify the areas where the private sector is not investing and will not invest. The advisory committee is being established, we have appointed the chairman, and it will give us much more specific guidance on how to get the right balance between the commercial and environmental criteria.
Robert Flello (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)
The ceramic industry in my city of Stoke-on-Trent will be listening and watching very carefully as the green investment bank develops, but my question is specifically about an engineering firm in my constituency that was looking to manufacture the gearing systems for refurbishing wind turbines. It had no joy from Advantage West Midlands, and it has had no joy from the local enterprise partnership, because it has no funds, so can the Secretary of State reassure me, and the firm, that the green investment bank will be on its feet quickly, and will not be so prescriptive that the company might just as well go to a moneylender, because the terms and conditions will be so tight?
Vince Cable
I have already said that loans can start to be made from roughly April 2012. There will be substantial activity, and the firm in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency may well be a successful supplier to the industry, but if I were him I would not be too negative about the other sources of finance. The regional growth fund is entering its second tranche, and if it is a good company with a good project, and if there is a good LEP, it will be eligible for that money.