Speeches by Glen.

“Is there not a risk, though? How do the Government avoid a situation in which the efficiency of the National Wealth Fund’s contribution is diluted by changes in the national economy? Do you think there is a reasonable chance that there will be tougher projects? We have just discussed the possibility of strategic decisi…”

“We obviously had the UK Infrastructure Bank previously. When you saw the Chancellor’s announcement around this, what did you discern to be different from what you saw with the previous entity?”

“So you would not want a sharp distinction between investing in new technologies and removing the blockers and challenges to developing existing technologies. You would not want to see a bar on one; you want both to be invested in.”

“So you see the National Wealth Fund as a first point of entry into Government support, but you are not necessarily clear that it is the only mechanism. You observed our session with the previous panel, when we discussed the range of options that exist.”

“Mr Davidson, how does Siemens see it?”

“Mr Thomas, you just mentioned a surge of interest in private sector investment. Does that indicate that, in your particular part of the pitch, the National Wealth Fund is not so needed, because you have growing confidence that there is a pathway to delivery to deal with the intermittency of supply? You have private bac…”

“Obviously, we are trying to understand the application of the National Wealth Fund to different sectors—in your case, the energy sector. Could you describe the challenges you see in the UK energy sector and how you hope the National Wealth Fund would help to overcome them?”

“I was the Minister who took the legislation for the UK Infrastructure Bank through Parliament, and I have been trying to discern what is different, apart from a little more money. I am still struggling with that. Does anyone else have anything to say? No? Thank you, Chair.”

“Yes.”

“Does anyone else have anything to say on that? Has it been framed in the right way? Should the Chancellor have gone further on the defence sector, specifically?”

“Could I ask about the National Wealth Fund’s strategic objectives and priority areas? The Chancellor asserted the imperative to consider investments in dual-use technologies to support the UK’s defence and security. Given where we are as a country and what is happening at the moment, do you think it is reasonable to sa…”

“Something to do with R&D?”

“Dr Surico, would you like to add anything on this subject?”

“And that was not as transparent as you would have liked?”

“As your immediate predecessor Paul Johnson said on the day, it was difficult to make sense of all those numbers: there were slightly different aggregations, different historic figures, different future figures, and some were adjusted for inflation and some not. You have been at the IFS for 18 years; can you tell the Co…”

“Thank you. Ms Miller, do you have anything to add on that? In your answers to Mr Dean, you discussed the imperative on capital investment in the NHS versus revenue, and the whole challenge around establishing what is going to be incremental value, given the pressures, but what would you say about how we could improve t…”

“That leads me neatly on to my second question, regarding the nature of the transparency or secrecy of this process. We received evidence from James Murray, who said that it would not be helpful for HMRC to put its initial bid out there because it would risk “undermining the value of the exercise”, and when Select Commi…”

“I have two process questions. I would like to address the first one, concerning the zero-based nature of the review, to Dr Tetlow. I think we have established that perhaps it has not really identified clearly activities of Government that were not being carried on. We have the £14 billion figure, but do you work with y…”

“That is quite striking; it is at odds with so much of the political narrative.”

“Dr Tetlow, I imagine the general public’s view of health expenditure is that too much money is spent on admin and managers rather than doctors and nurses. I seem to remember that when I asked that question when I was in government, that was not the actual reality. Are you aware of any research or data that gives a port…”