Cbi
House of Lords

Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour)

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by the Director General of the CBI on 12 July regarding their growth plan.

Lord Sassoon (Commercial Secretary, HM Treasury; Conservative)

Business groups such as the CBI have endorsed government action to reduce the fiscal deficit in order to restore the public finances to a sustainable path, and have supported the major reforms set out in the plan for growth.

Implementation of these remains a priority right across government. Despite the challenging economic backdrop, the Government have already made significant progress.

In relation to infrastructure investment, there has also been significant progress. For example, all 20 of the road schemes announced at Spending Review 2010 and Autumn Statement 2011 are currently scheduled to start on time; work is beginning this month on the £20 million package designed to reduce congestion on the Al4 in Cambridgeshire; there are 66 wind farms currently in construction across the country, which, once complete, will generate enough electricity to serve 2.25 million homes; enabling construction works have begun for Hinkley Point C; and recently the Government committed an additional £4.2 billion for rail schemes across the country.