Member

On the issue of borrowing and raising private finance directly, the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, mentioned the Local Government Pension Scheme, and we had a question on that this morning in Question Time. I agree that it is worth exploring how the Local Government Pension Scheme can help with these types of investment. That will all come as part of a wider funding toolkit. It requires careful consideration to make sure that we properly balance the benefits and risks, including the possibility that mayoral development corporations could accrue significant debt and liabilities—an issue raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill. We must also consider how the proposed borrowing powers would interact with mayoral strategic authority borrowing. We will need more time than is available on this Bill, but I can commit that the department will consider these changes in the future. For the reasons I have given, I kindly ask noble Lords not to press their amendments.