The Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has confirmed in the Budget today that the Government is to set up a £2 billion Green Investment Bank as well as provide £60 million to UK ports to host offshore wind manufacturers.
Alistair Darling said that the new
Green Investment Bank would be backed by £2 billion of equity funding, including from the sale of Government assets such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. He said the bank would “unlock billions” of additional money from
private investors.
The £60 million the Chancellor promised to
UK port sites will go towards their redevelopment in order to support
offshore wind turbine manufacturers looking to locate new facilities in the UK. Darling said the move would help create “100,000 of extra jobs” in the UK.
Announcing that spending would increase by 2.2 per cent above inflation this year but that borrowing would be less this year and next than previously forecast, Darling said the Government had a role to play in “the future growth, jobs and prosperity” of the country.
“The raw materials to fuel this growth is here in abundance,” he said. “We are the sixth biggest
manufacturing nation in the world […] and we work hard to create an environment for ingenuity and entrepreneurial flair."
Energy White PaperBut he also said the UK needed to modernise its
energy supplies and invest in ageing power stations and
renewable energy. The new Green Investment Bank has been set up to help do this, and Darling said today the Government would publish a White Paper by Spring 2011 providing a “route map” on how to reform the energy market to provide clean, secure and affordable energy in the long-term.
UK Finance for GrowthTo improve financial supports for
small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Chancellor said he was launching the UK Finance for Growth, which will streamline £4 billion of existing financial support for this sector and include a capital grant fund that will give “fast growing companies the private capital they need”. This is expected to help SMEs involved in the commercialisation of low carbon
technologies, among others.
The offshore wind investment is expected to encourage wind turbine companies such as Clipper Windpower and Mitsubishi to set up manufacturing bases in the UK. Both companies have recently indicated their intention to invest in the UK offshore wind market if the conditions are right.
Company car tax for ultra-low carbon cars halvedOther low carbon measures included in Budget was the halving of the rate of company car tax for ultra-low carbon
cars and an £8 per tonne increase in the standard rate of landfill tax on 1 April 2014.
The Chancellor announced that the fuel duty increase for 2010 would be staged, with an increase of one penny per litre on April 1 2010 and one penny per litre on October 1 2010, then 0.76 pence per litre on January 1 2011. Fuel duty will also rise by one penny per litre in real terms on April 1each year from 2011 to 2014.
Related news:Green finance newsGreen policy newsRelated links:www.hm-treasury.gov.uk