What does the pledge mean? 

In its manifesto Labour said it would “establish a National Wealth Fund” which “will have a remit to support Labour’s growth and clean energy missions, making transformative investments across every part of the country”. It said the fund would “have a target of attracting three pounds of private investment for every one pound of public investment, creating jobs across the country”.

The manifesto also said £7.3 billion-worth of capital would be allocated to the fund over the course of the parliament. We’ve written more about that pledge here.

What progress has been made?

A National Wealth Fund was set up on 14 October 2024, with the formal rebranding of the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) and an announcement that the new fund will work alongside the British Business Bank.

The UKIB was a development bank owned by the Treasury. It was established in 2021 and at that time assigned £22 billion of infrastructure finance to “tackle climate change and support regional and local economic growth across the UK”.

The British Business Bank is an economic development bank owned by the Department for Business and Trade. It was established in 2014 and helps smaller businesses access finance from its partners (such as banks, leasing companies or venture capital funds).

The government has confirmed the National Wealth Fund will inherit the UKIB’s £22 billion of capital, and receive an additional £5.8 billion over the course of this parliament.

It said the remaining £1.5 billion of the £7.3 billion set out in its manifesto would be “reserved to maintain flexibility in how the government can best deliver against its aims for the NWF”.

The government has also committed to bringing forward a National Wealth Fund Bill which it says will “put the National Wealth Fund on a permanent statutory footing”, but this has not yet been formally introduced in Parliament. The government has not committed to a specific timeframe for this, instead saying it will do so “when parliamentary time allows”.