The Bank’s advisory function remains in the early stages of development and uncertainty remains on how it will be funded and how smaller local authorities will benefit from its activities. The Treasury intends the Bank to provide advisory services to local authorities regarding infrastructure projects. This function is currently in pilot phase with three large unitary authorities—Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Bristol—with the aim of creating solutions that are replicable across all local authorities. However, we are concerned that smaller local authorities who may need more support than larger ones (owing to the size of their resources, capacity and capability) should not be left behind in receiving the Bank’s support. The Bank has not worked through how this function should be funded and is currently planning to offer this advice for free while it seeks to establish the replicability of The Creation of the UK Infrastructure Bank 7 its advice. However particular attention needs to be given to avoid past mistakes of making risky loans to local authorities on property and other capital projects which put the authorities’ overall finances at risk. Recommendation: Upon completion of its three pilot schemes, the Bank should write to the Committee setting out how its advisory function will work in practice, including how it will design a funding model that reflects the cost of the support provided, and regulates demand. The Bank should also outline how it will ensure smaller authorities are not left behind.