Chancellor George Osborne has signalled his intention to make local councils spend more on infrastructure through the creation of British wealth funds.
In a speech at the Conservative Party conference, Osborne said that the 89 council pension funds spend little on infrastructure throughout the UK.
Osborne said that the Conservative government would “create instead half a dozen British wealth funds spread across the country”.
The projects funded would be directed by a new independent National Infrastructure Commission with the power to define future projects and hold “any government’s feet to the fire if it fails to deliver.”
The commission will be headed by former Labour minister and peer Lord Adonis and will begin its work immediately.
The chancellor said that these changes would help to save millions in administration costs across local authority pension funds and allow the investment of billions into future projects.
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Infrastructure is absolutely crucial to attracting the investment that is needed to regenerate the UK’s towns and cities and create growth. Today’s announcement is therefore very welcome, and we hope to see swift decisions over important projects to ensure clarity and certainty for investors.
“In order to create places where people will live as well as work, we would hope to see discussion as to whether large-scale housing schemes could be considered within significant infrastructure projects. This would enable the development industry to deliver a large number of homes, quickly.”
