Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work of the UK Infrastructure Bank.

On 14 October the Chancellor announced the creation of the National Wealth Fund (NWF). Building on the UK Infrastructure Bank’s leadership and expertise, the NWF will go further to catalyse more private investment.

To mobilise private investment at pace, the Government has turbocharged the NWF to be more catalytic by equipping it with the financial products, mandate and risk capital to catalyse private capital most effectively. It will have a total capitalisation of £27.8bn, inheriting UKIB’s existing capitalisation with an additional £5.8bn which will be committed over this Parliament.

Going forward, the NWF will have a broader mandate, extending beyond infrastructure to support delivery of the wider Industrial Strategy in areas where there is an undersupply in private finance, working alongside the British Business Bank.

It will take a proactive approach, with increased resources and focus to conduct more outreach, identifying expanded project pipelines and structure innovative transactions. It will also have a strong regional mandate to unleash the full potential of our cities and regions. These changes will ensure that the NWF can catalyse additional investment, delivering impactful projects and unlocking growth opportunities across the UK.