Last week, Richard was the responding Shadow Minister to the infrastructure statement delivered by the government's Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Richard Fuller MP said:
I welcome investment in the country's infrastructure which can be a great positive for individuals, communities and the country as a whole but only if they represent value for taxpayers and are delivered on time and on budget. The statement lacked some detail and also failed to provide a project timeline as well as detail on whether any of the 660 projects outlined by the previous government would be scrapped or maintained. Nevertheless, I am confident that the Chief Secretary will make this information clear in the coming weeks.
Further questions where answers are needed are on the availability of a skilled workforce to deliver the projects, whether the powers recently introduced that could compel pension funds to invest in certain areas could be invoked on some projects and why there was no mention of the National Wealth Fund which was launched with great fanfare and £7 billion funding to drive the government's growth agenda. Surely that fund should be a key vehicle for infrastructure development.
You can watch Richard's response at https://youtu.be/FbC10quss50
