Key facts
- A coalition of UK groups has urged ministers to increase the financial firepower of the National Wealth Fund (NWF).
- The NWF, launched in July 2024, aims to attract private sector money for large infrastructure projects.
- The NWF is designed to share financial risk for large infrastructure projects to encourage investment in the UK.
- The group proposes turning the NWF into a national development bank capable of long-term investment.
- The NWF has £5.5 billion available for investment over the next five years, compared to Germany's KfW lending €62 billion in 2025.
- The Treasury reported £3.9 billion of NWF investments and £5.25 billion in generated private finance, securing 11,500 jobs.
A coalition of UK unions, think tanks, environmental groups, and charities has called on the government to significantly bolster the financial capacity of the National Wealth Fund (NWF). The groups argue that an expanded NWF could unlock lower energy bills, revitalize industrial heartlands, and create high-quality jobs by enabling greater investment in Britain and rebalancing the national economy.
The statement, released by organizations including the TUC, Greenpeace, WWF, and the New Economics Foundation, urges the government to transform the NWF into a "world-leading national development bank." They assert this would align with the government's existing fiscal rules, which require day-to-day spending to be matched by income and borrowing only for investment.
The NWF was established in July 2024 by then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves with the objective of attracting private sector capital for major infrastructure projects, aiming for a £3 private to £1 public funding ratio. Unlike sovereign wealth funds in Norway or Saudi Arabia, the UK's NWF is designed to stimulate investment in key industries by sharing financial risks with private investors.
This call for expansion comes ahead of the Labour party's conference and Chancellor John Healey's upcoming budget on October 28. While acknowledging the NWF's current role in steering private investment towards clean energy and regional growth, the groups highlight its limited scale. They contrast the NWF's £5.5 billion annual investment capacity over five years with Germany's public investment bank KfW, which lent €62 billion in 2025 alone.
Proposed benefits of a scaled-up NWF include turbocharging home retrofitting, enabling public stakes in critical infrastructure, launching targeted investment programs for deindustrialized communities, and supporting regional banks for small businesses. The groups suggest this would require granting the NWF independence to raise its own long-term finances.
A Treasury spokesperson stated that the NWF has already facilitated £3.9 billion in investments, including projects like Sizewell C and a Sunderland gigafactory, and generated an additional £5.25 billion in private finance, creating or securing 11,500 jobs. The spokesperson affirmed the government's commitment to the NWF's mission of attracting private capital and driving economic growth nationwide.