Government response

Pension fund investment in infrastructure - Paul Morrell's view

The Government Chief Construction Adviser, Paul Morrell, has set out his views on infrastructure funding.

• From: Cabinet Office
• Published: 4 July 2012

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Following an article in the Financial Times on Monday 2 July 2012 (“Pension funds won’t invest in new builds”), the Government Chief Construction Adviser, Paul Morrell, has set out his views on infrastructure funding.

Paul said:

The views attributed to me in the article are out of context. At present, there is a low proportion of pension funds going into unbuilt infrastructure assets. The article suggests that I do not think this will change. Quite the opposite, I believe that it will change.

However, it will not change overnight. The challenge for the construction industry (and the wider context for my comments) is that anyone contemplating such investment needs to be assured that the work will be both affordable and delivered in accordance with its forecasts. Working together, government and the industry can make that so.

Further information on the Cabinet Office’s construction policy and its progress can be found on our construction pages.

Published 4 July 2012