Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans for a golden share in the Green Investment Bank will enable it to influence decisions on the (a) sale of existing assets and (b) reinvestment of capital in green projects after the disposal of those assets.

The special share will be held by an independent company – the Green Purposes Company Limited, with trustees who have been selected independently of Government and of the Green Investment Bank (GIB). The independent trustees will have the right to approve or reject any proposed change to the green purposes of GIB, as set out in the company’s Articles of Association, if such a change were ever proposed.

GIB is being sold as a going concern and potential investors will be buying into the company’s green business plan and forward pipeline of projects.