Reform vow to create new ‘wealth fund’ using pension schemes
Reform UK has pledged to create a new “British Sovereign Wealth Fund” using local government pension schemes as part of Richard Tice’s first policy package as the party’s spokesman for business, trade and energy.
Reform has vowed to wrap various arms of government, including housing and energy, into one office that focuses on growth, job creation and cutting bills.
Tice, the party’s deputy leader under Nigel Farage, will tell an audience of Reform supporters in Birmingham that the party would scrap regulation, take a more aggressive approach on China, prioritise cheap energy and create a fund to invest in UK firms.
He is expected to say: “This new Great Office of State covering Business, Trade & Energy – including housing – will be a joined up, comprehensive department including the British Sovereign Fund.
“Speed and action will be the order of the day. It will be a first for the UK and is the sort of coordinated, strategic, long term structure that has served other entrepreneurial high growth nations so well.”
The set of policy commitments come after Robert Jenrick, who won the ‘shadow chancellor’ brief over Tice and Zia Yusuf, said Reform would prioritise fiscal prudence and maintain the independence of the Bank of England.
Tice, who is set to work more closely with business chiefs, had previously opened the door to greater interference with the Bank as well as other institutions such as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
He will instead focus on deregulation, trade, energy and state investment in his new role.
Reform’s re-modelled wealth fund
On Tuesday, Tice is set to announce that Reform would transform the Local Government Pension Scheme into a single wealth fund with considerably more funds at its disposal than Rachel Reeves’ National Wealth Fund which boasts nearly £28bn in capital.
Reform estimates say their new fund would be worth £575bn. The Local Government Pension Scheme said in March 2024 its market value was £391bn, counting some 6.7m members across England and Wales.
The new fund would own listed shares in the UK and internationally, with a “strategic UK growth mandate” and partnering alongside other sovereign wealth funds and pension funds.
The party had previously hinted at its aspiration to buy shares in major companies such as Rolls-Royce and part-nationalise the water sector.
Tice is also expected to call for the UK to slap heavy tariffs and tight quotas on Chinese cars while trade policy would be directed towards protecting steel, oil, gas and defence industries.
Deregulation of net zero, employment rights, property rent and planning would also be prioritised to cut costs for firms despite being “well-intentioned”.