Moved by
That the Bill be now read a third time.
Relevant document: 2nd Report from the Delegated Powers
Committee
(Con)
My Lords, before we progress with Third Reading, I shall make a
very brief statement on legislative consent in relation to the
Bill. My officials have worked closely with their counterparts in
the devolved Administrations throughout the set-up of the bank
and the passage of this Bill. All three Administrations have
welcomed the establishment of a national infrastructure bank. The
bank has also been developing its own relationship with the
devolved Administrations and their institutions—for example, the
Scottish National Investment Bank. I am pleased that the bank has
now completed a deal in all four nations of the UK. We continue
to discuss the requirements for legislative consent with the
devolved Administrations, and I am grateful for their continued
engagement on this. I beg to move that the Bill be read a third
time.
Motion agreed.
3.39pm
Motion
Moved by
That the Bill do now pass.
(Lab)
My Lords, much has happened since last week’s Report stage, when
your Lordships passed two sensible amendments. These changes
would considerably strengthen the Bill’s climate and levelling-up
credentials, ensuring greater external support for the bank and
its work.
The Prime Minister has rightly said that the business of
government must go on over the coming weeks and months. In that
spirit, I hope that the Treasury will reconsider its opposition
to these amendments. This will ensure that the next Prime
Minister gets a stronger Bill on the statute books. If Ministers,
whether the current crop or their successors, do not like the
current wording, they are welcome to change it. However, simply
overturning the amendments would show poor judgment. The economic
picture has become gloomier, while dealing with the climate and
biodiversity crisis is ever more pressing. Through this revised
Bill, the bank can play an important role in both battles,
supporting the creation of good jobs and doing more to protect
nature. When one of the many leadership hopefuls assumes the
office of Prime Minister, these issues must be at the front of
their mind.
Until then, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, and the noble
Viscount, , for taking this
Bill through its Lords stages. They have been ably supported by a
range of Treasury officials, to whom I am also grateful. I am
even more grateful to my Labour Party policy adviser, Dan
Stevens, for his invaluable advice and help.
In the meantime, I wish the bank well as it continues to find its
feet and comes to its initial investment.
(LD)
My Lords, obviously my colleagues and I support the creation of
the UK Infrastructure Bank. We regret that it does not have the
genuine operational independence that was a clear statutory
characteristic of the Green Investment Bank, which was sold off
by this Government as soon as the coalition ended, but we are
where we are.
The work of this House has improved the Bill significantly. The
Government amended it to provide absolute clarity on the UKIB’s
role in supporting investment in energy efficiency; we thank the
Minister for that. Noble Lords from all sides of the House also
supported further changes to establish that the bank’s objectives
extend to nature-based solutions in a circular economy. I hope
that the Government will not attempt to reverse these meaningful
improvements.
However, the Bill has followed what has become a consistent
government thrust: diminishing Parliament and enhancing the power
of the Executive; I will not repeat all our previous arguments
about Henry VIII powers and the power of direction. The
Government have promised to amend the framework document by the
end of the year to assure us that not only the directions,
including their content, but any objections made by the bank to
such directions, including letters of reservation, will be made
public. This transparency is vital; I thank the Minister
personally for making sure that we got a meaningful response to
this issue with a commitment not just to removing the gagging
clauses originally in the framework document but to ensuring full
transparency through the publication of the relevant
documents.
I thank the Minister and her team for their openness and
willingness to meet. I thank Peers around this House who worked
together to get improvement—they are too many to name—but I
believe that the Government’s nightmare is an amendment in the
name of the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, supported by the noble
Lords, and Lord Vaux, the noble
Baroness, Lady Bennett, and me.
Last of all, I thank my own ranks. I thank Sarah Pughe and Mo
Souidi in the Whips’ Office, who provided us with organisation
and backing. I thank my noble friends and , who brought their particular
and extensive expertise to bear on this Bill; they have earned
and enjoy the respect of this House.
(Con)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their constructive approach
to each stage of this Bill. In particular, I thank the noble
Lord, , and the noble Baroness, Lady
Kramer.
The level of scrutiny and debate on the Bill demonstrates the
importance of the bank’s mission and has served to demonstrate
once again the expertise of this House on topics from corporate
governance through to the definition of infrastructure and our
target for tackling climate change. Although this is a short
Bill—something that may be welcomed—it is an important one given
the bank’s potential to deliver a step change in tackling climate
change and supporting levelling up through supporting the
development of high-quality infrastructure across the whole of
the UK.
I am therefore pleased to see the Bill progress towards becoming
law, supporting the bank to become a fully-fledged, operationally
independent institution able to deliver on its mandate as agreed
by this House. I thank noble Lords on all Benches for working
constructively on this both during debates and in the many
separate discussions that I have had on this Bill.
Finally, I recognise the work of the parliamentary counsel in
drafting this Bill and in supporting its passage so far. I also
thank the House staff, the excellent Bill team, and my noble
friend Lord Younger for his support. I am not alone in this House
in looking forward to seeing the impact of the bank’s investments
in improving the vital infrastructure of this country. I beg to
move.
Bill passed and sent to the Commons.
