By Paul Homewood
h/t Dave Ward
If we ever needed evidence that our MPs are living in a different universe to the rest of us, take a look at the latest report from the Public Accounts Committee, courtesy of the Mail:
A influential group of MPs has branded the Government’s sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) as “deeply regrettable”, claiming Britain’s green objectives have been sacrificed in favour of driving down debt.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the £2.3 billion deal had not secured the best return for taxpayers and would not protect the GIB’s purpose in the coming years, as it outlined a string of failings surrounding the sale to a consortium led by Macquarie Group.
In a damning report, it found that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had not grasped whether the GIB had ever achieved its goal of helping to haul “more investment into the green economy” and “creating an institution that lasts”.
It added that the Government’s appetite for reducing debt had forced it into a “reactive” sale, leading “a number of compromises” being made to get the deal over the line.
The GIB was launched in 2012 to channel investment into low carbon development and has since been rebranded the Green Investment Group (GIG) by its current owners.
Sir Geoffery Clifton-Brown, deputy chair of the PAC, said the Government had lessons to learn about selling public assets.
He said: “Government set up the Green Investment Bank to grow investment in the green economy and thus help the UK meet its climate change obligations.
“The manner in which it was sold off is therefore deeply regrettable. Government did not carry out a full assessment of the Bank’s impact before deciding to sell, nor did it secure adequate assurance over the Bank’s future role.
“This was a UK initiative but the rebranded Green Investment Group is not bound to invest in the UK’s energy policy at all, nor to invest in the kind of technologies that support its climate objectives.
“The protracted sale process put Government on the back foot; had it been shrewder, it could have secured a better return for taxpayers.”
The deal was sealed in April last year, with Macquarie Group, Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 and the Universities Superannuation Scheme seizing control of the GIB.
It is the Green Bank itself, and not the sale of it, that was not serving the interest of taxpayers. If these green schemes had been so good, then they would have attracted funding from commercial banks, instead of needing to have taxpayer money sprayed at them.
As for the claim that Britain’s green objectives have been sacrificed in favour of driving down debt, I would have thought taxpayers would be over the moon.
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March 15, 2018 at 06:12AM
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