Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 25 March (HL5735), in what way they plan to broaden the National Wealth Fund's legislative remit beyond infrastructure.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government will introduce legislation when Parliamentary time allows to broaden the National Wealth Fund’s (NWF) legislative mandate beyond infrastructure to enable it to better support the Government’s growth and clean energy missions.

At that point, and subject to Parliamentary consent, the NWF will focus on enabling investment in capital intensive projects, businesses, or assets. For example, the NWF will have the scope to invest in a broader range of supply chains and critical sectors, such as Artificial Intelligence and quantum, where access to finance gaps exist.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answers by Lord Livermore on 13 March (HL Deb cols 813–14), who sits on the British Infrastructure Taskforce; and what are its terms of reference.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Meetings of the British Infrastructure Taskforce are convened by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to help boost investment in infrastructure and drive growth nationwide. The Taskforce is attended by some of the UK’s largest financial services companies.

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) is the government’s centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects. The IPA leads the project delivery and project finance professions across government. The IPA supports the successful delivery of all types of major projects; ranging from railways, schools, hospitals and housing, to defence, IT and major transformation programmes. These functions, along with those of the National Infrastructure Commission, will move to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) on 1 April 2025.

NISTA will bring oversight of strategy and delivery into one organisation, developing and implementing our ten-year infrastructure strategy in conjunction with industry, while driving more effective delivery of infrastructure across the country. Alongside existing assurance mechanisms, NISTA will have an enhanced role in supporting major projects, including validating business cases prior to HM Treasury funding approval.

Found: A_ Lord Livermore to move, That this House do not insist on its Amendment 1B, to which the Commons have