Coalition has £50bn plan for ‘wartime’ jobs projects

Ministers are drawing up plans for a £50 billion housing and road-building boom in a bid to boost the flagging economy, it was reported yesterday.

Chancellor George Osborne wants to encourage private companies to fund a “wartime” infrastructure building programme encompassing power stations, social housing, super-fast broadband and toll roads.

The plans, being devised by the Treasury and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, are part of a growth strategy to be unveiled alongside the autumn statement on 29 November.

It comes as the Bank of England is expected to slash its forecasts for growth amid fears of a double-dip recession.

The coalition government hopes that private investors, including pension funds and insurance companies, will stump up money to fund infrastructure projects, but is still discussing how to create an investment vehicle to handle the injection of cash.

Tapping into private sector funding would allow the government to fund growth without jeopardising its deficit reduction targets.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “What we have to do is create a framework of stable regulation so that private investors will have the confidence to invest in big projects and help get the British economy moving again.”