To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that infrastructure investors may be withholding investment in the UK due to concerns about the current regulatory climate.
Answered on
4 February 2019
The UK has established strong, independent economic regulators that protect the interests of consumers and encourage high levels of investment.
The economic regulators – Ofgem, Ofwat, Ofcom, and the Civil Aviation Authority – ensure that regulated companies deliver good value for money, and that investors get a fair return on their investment.
This system continues to deliver strong levels of investment. For instance, in the water sector, over the next price control period companies have proposed investing £50 billion from 2020-2025, a 13% increase from the previous control period. In 2017, the inward stock of FDI in the UK was the highest in Europe and the third highest in the world.