Parliament passes legislation for £40bn infrastructure support scheme

The Act sets out provisions for financial assistance of up to £40 billion to be given by Government to support infrastructure projects. The assistance may be provided in the form of loans, guarantees, indemnities or any other kind of financial assistance. The cap on the amount of assistance that can be provided under the Act may be lifted by an Order of the Treasury.

The Bill was introduced in response to the difficulties that the Government said providers of infrastructure have met in obtaining private finance, including constraints on capital and banking markets and the fact that finance and insurance providers are taking longer to approve projects.

The Bill was laid before Parliament in early September as part of the Government's housing and planning package. It implements the Government's UK Guarantees scheme which was announced in July 2012.

The Government asked Parliament to fast-track the Bill, saying it was necessary to make financial assistance available as quickly as possible to commercially and economically viable projects that are ready to proceed to construction, but are stalled because they lack financial assistance.

“Securing Royal Assent just three months after the launch of the UK Guarantee scheme shows that we are getting on with delivering the vital infrastructure that the country needs to boost growth," said Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander.

“Since July we’ve had significant interest from industry, and passed the legislation to make the scheme a reality. We can now get on with the search for eligible projects, and I hope today’s progress will encourage project sponsors to come forward to see how they can take advantage of the strength of the UK’s balance sheet by taking up a guarantee.”