Yesterday (31st October 2012) the Infrastructure
(Financial Assistance) Bill received Royal Assent and has now passed into law. Designed to enable them to guarantee up to
£40bn of investment in infrastructure, and up to £10bn of new homes, the government
believe this will help in their quest to deliver “the vital infrastructure
that the country needs to boost growth.”
The Bill passed through parliament in just 55 days and is
designed to underpin the UK Guarantees scheme which authorises HM Treasury or a
Secretary of State (with HM Treasury’s consent) to incur expenditure in relation
to the provision of guarantees and other suitable forms of financial assistance
for major infrastructure projects that may struggle due to the current economic
climate. The Scheme which was launched
in July has already received over 60 enquiries.
With recent reports pointing to a small but positive shift
towards growth in our economy – is this really the solution to all of our problems
in the Construction Industry? Has it
come soon enough to save those smaller supply chain companies who are fighting
for survival, or is it simply a case of too little too late?
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