Chancellor Announces Two New Bodies To Deliver Long-term Investment In The Uk

Evening Standard

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves makes her keynote speech during the International Investment Summit in London, which brings together up to 300 industry leaders to boost investment in the UK.

Transcript

00:00In the next fortnight, I will be finalising my first budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

00:07And the situation that we have inherited means that we face difficult choices.

00:15The first step that we must take to grow our economy is to restore fiscal and economic

00:21stability.

00:23Because balancing the books by ensuring that we do not borrow for day-to-day spending is

00:28not anti-investment.

00:29In fact, it is the only way to ensure that government and business can invest with confidence.

00:37Discipline on spending, alongside investment in capital, is absolutely essential.

00:43The investment which government makes must be sustainable, with debt falling by the end

00:48of the forecast.

00:50It must provide good value for taxpayers' money.

00:53And it must be fully transformative so that we grow our economy in the years ahead.

00:59When I became Chancellor of the Exchequer, I made my first big speech three days later

01:04about the importance of growing our economy.

01:08I set out our plans to launch a new National Wealth Fund, designed in partnership with

01:14business, through the National Wealth Taskforce, led by Mark Carney.

01:19Today, we are creating the National Wealth Fund and making it the UK's new impact investor.

01:26The National Wealth Fund will catalyse tens of billions of pounds of private investment

01:31into clean energy and our growth industries, like green hydrogen, carbon capture and storage

01:38and gigafactories.

01:41From today, we are turbocharging the UK Infrastructure Bank, which will now operate as the National

01:47Wealth Fund.

01:48It will be headquartered in Leeds, with a bigger team, more freedom and an expanded

01:54suite of financial instruments, and more economic risk capital, to ensure that the National

02:00Wealth Fund's investments can be even more catalytic.

02:04The National Wealth Fund will work with industry partners, including our Metro mayors, to identify

02:09innovative transactions and deliver new impactful investments right across our country.

02:16We will also bring forward legislation to give the National Wealth Fund a broader mandate,

02:22extending beyond infrastructure so it aligns with our new industrial strategy.

02:28The National Wealth Fund will also work alongside the UK's existing structures to better crowd

02:33in private investment.

02:36The British Business Bank deployed £3.5 billion to support over 23,000 businesses last year.

02:43But we need innovative vehicles that go further and faster.

02:48To leverage investment from new sources, like our pension funds, and to improve returns

02:53for savers and help our most exciting businesses to grow.

02:58If we want businesses here not just to start up, but to scale up, we need to unlock long-term

03:04patient capital from private investors.

03:08To do that, we cannot just rely on old methods.

03:12So today, we are setting out our plans for the British Business Bank to take a more innovative

03:17approach through a new pathfinder, British Growth Partnership.

03:23This will create a new vehicle to crowd in pension funds and other institutional investment

03:29into venture capital funds and innovative businesses.

03:33The British Business Bank is aiming to raise hundreds of millions of pounds and to make

03:38long-term investments on a fully commercial basis by the end of 2025.

03:44The government will invest alongside the private sector to crowd in funding.

03:49To ensure that the British Growth Partnership delivers on this government's objectives.

03:55To increase capital for companies.

03:58Deliver better outcomes for savers.

04:00And to boost economic growth.

04:04The decisions that lie ahead will not always be easy, but by making the right choices to

04:13grow our economy, to drive investment, we will create good jobs and new opportunities

04:21across every part of our country.

04:24That is the Britain that we are building, and that is the difference that we will make

04:28together.

04:29Thank you so much for being part of it today.

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