Labour has unveiled plans for a National Wealth Fund which it says will unlock private investment for industries of the future.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have instructed officials to immediately begin work to align the UK Infrastructure Bank and the British Business Bank.
It comes as Reeves and Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, convene a meeting of the National Wealth Fund Taskforce at No.11 Downing Street to kickstart this work.
Chaired by the Green Finance Institute, the Taskforce includes former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Barclays CEO C.S Venkatakrishnan, Aviva CEO Dame Amanda Blanc and large institutional investors.
The government hopes to create a compelling proposition which will mobilise billions more in private investment and generate a return for taxpayers.
It says £7.3bn of additional funding will be allocated through the UK Infrastructure Bank so investments can start being made immediately, focusing on further priority sectors and catalysing private investment at an even greater scale. This funding is in addition to existing UKIB funding.
As part of the National Wealth Fund reforms will be made to the British Business Bank, which is overseen by the Department for Business and Trade, to ensure it can mobilise the UK’s deep pools of institutional capital by harnessing its pipeline of investments and track record as the UK’s largest investor in venture capital.
This will unlock billions of pounds of investment in the UK’s world-leading green and growth industries.
“This new government is getting on with the job of delivering economic growth. I have been clear that there is no time to waste,” said Reeves. “I have previously committed to establishing a National Wealth Fund. I am now going further by bringing together key institutions.
“We need to go further and faster if we are to fix the foundations of our economy to rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off.
“That is why in less than a week we are establishing a new National Wealth Fund and bringing together the key institutions that will help unlock investment in new and growing industries.
“Britain is open for business – and the work of change has begun.”
The government says it will bring forward new legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to cement the NWF in statute, making it a permanent institution at the heart of the country’s long-term growth and prosperity.
The NWF will also work with local partners including Mayors to bring together a finance and investment offer that supports the needs of local areas and catalyses growth in all corners of the country.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner have met all regional Mayors at 10 Downing Street to ‘reset the relationship’ between central and local government.