You might be forgiven for assuming that the UK’s new national infrastructure bank, announced by the government this month, will be a much needed shot in the arm for infrastructure. Well, not quite. 

Despite what its name suggests, the new bank will be anything but a traditional source of funds for the usual suspects of motorways, railway lines and power stations when it comes to big infrastructure programmes. Instead, it is to be a standard-bearer for what chancellor Rishi Sunak has described as the quest to “build back better, fairer and greener”. This is likely to mean things like new energy projects, carbon capture and storage facilities, and climate change mitigation such as flood defences. 

In his Budget speech, Sunak declared that the new bank – which will be based in Leeds (pictured left) – will invest in “public and private projects to finance the green industrial revolution”. His announcement of the bank was accompanied by the first real detail about what it will attempt to achieve. 

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