NIP Forum demands clarity on Guarantees

Launching the forum, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander underlined that Treasury’s door is open for applicants and urged people to come forward. However, he admitted that forum members had called for more detail on what the guarantees will look like and on the projects they could support.

The minister said the forum members had used the meeting to express the "need for certainty" and called for clarity around infrastructure legislation, such as the energy bill and new planning rules.

Asked about the delay in signing up pension funds for investment in greenfield infrastructure, Alexander said that although the take-up was slower than expected, he was encouraged by the initial discussions and was confident that there were many more with interest in taking part.

Speaking after the event, one forum member said that while he welcomed the opportunity to discuss concerns with Alexander, he hoped the next meeting would go into more practical details about how to get projects off the ground.