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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding the Green Investment Bank has provided in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each financial year since its creation.

The UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) has helped finance two projects in the Merseyside area.

In December 2013, GIB committed £20m to the design, build and operation of a new ‘energy from waste’ plant on behalf of the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority. The facility, located in Teesside, will each year convert into energy more than 420,000 tonnes of residual waste from six boroughs in the Merseyside area, including St Helens North. The project has created approximately 75 permanent jobs, in addition to more than 100 jobs during the construction phase.

In November 2014, GIB committed £30.1m to a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant in Widnes the North West’s largest waste wood renewable power facility.

The project has created more than 200 construction jobs and around 20 full time jobs in the operational phase.

In addition, some of GIB’s UK wide investment platforms such as its indirect investments in LED lighting upgrades to Santander branches and NCP car parks are likely to have benefitted Merseyside including St Helens North.

GIB provides a full list of its investments for each financial year on its website: www.greeninvestmentbank.com