BILLIONS of pounds will be raised by selling off public assets to help fund projects to improve the UK's critical infrastructure, George Osborne will say today in a bid to “get Britain building”.
The Chancellor has committed to an infrastructure investment of £100 billion by 2020, vowing to put it at the heart of next month’s spending review aimed at "delivering security".
His comments came ahead of the formal launch of the National Infrastructure Commission(NIC), which he announced earlier this month and which will run under the chairmanship of Lord Adonis, the former Labour Cabinet Minister.
A "suite of asset sales", which the Treasury expects to raise tens of billions of pounds, is being identified by officials, with details expected to be announced at the spending review on November 25.
The infrastructure spending commitment will include confirmation of £15 billion for road projects; set out in December last year.
"My spending review will be about delivering security,” declared the Chancellor.
"British people have to spend longer than they should getting to work, pay more than they should in energy bills and can't buy the houses they want because of the failure of successive governments to think long-term.
"Infrastructure isn't some obscure concept; it's about people's lives, economic security and the sort of country we want to live in.”
Mr Osborne said he was determined to “shake Britain out of its inertia on infrastructure” and end the situation where it trailed its rivals from housing to power stations.
"This is about jobs, growth, living standards and ensuring Britain is fit for the future. We must be the builders,” he insisted.
The Chancellor added: "We need to think long-term and deliver a cross-party consensus on what we need to build. I am delighted Andrew Adonis and this world-class group of experts have agreed to come together on the National Infrastructure Commission to help us do that."
The announcement of the NIC during the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, and the appointment of Lord Adonis to chair it, raised eyebrows among Labour MPs after their party had promised a similar body.
The commissioners will include Sir John Armitt, the former Olympic Delivery Authority boss, and Conservative peer Lord Heseltine, the ex-Deputy Prime Minister.
The NIC launch comes after business leaders earlier this week demanded action to improve Britain’s ageing infrastructure. They called for urgent action to tackle its "creaking" railways, "clogged" roads and "crowded" airport runways.
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