Hundreds of bids for investment zones but Treasury may reconsider flagship plan
Hundreds of bids for investment zones have been submitted to the government, even as the Treasury considers scaling back the flagship policy.
Some authorities have fully embraced the policy, with Norfolk asking for 23 zones, while Suffolk wants 12. The West Midlands Combined Authority has earmarked six areas, capable of delivering 30m sq ft of development and more 18,000 new homes.
Speaking in the House of Commons earlier this week, levelling-up secretary Simon Clarke said: “We have had hundreds of applications from local authorities for these zones, which is testament to the huge appetite for growth and investment opportunities across this country.”
Hundreds of bids for investment zones have been submitted to the government, even as the Treasury considers scaling back the flagship policy.
Some authorities have fully embraced the policy, with Norfolk asking for 23 zones, while Suffolk wants 12. The West Midlands Combined Authority has earmarked six areas, capable of delivering 30m sq ft of development and more 18,000 new homes.
Speaking in the House of Commons earlier this week, levelling-up secretary Simon Clarke said: “We have had hundreds of applications from local authorities for these zones, which is testament to the huge appetite for growth and investment opportunities across this country.”
Clarke also promised that the zones would be funded by new money from the Treasury.
However, sources within government have indicated that plans for the zones could be scaled back or even scrapped by new chancellor Jeremy Hunt (pictured).
Treasury officials have highlighted concerns that plans for an unlimited number of zones across the country, where tax and regulation would be cut for up to 25 years, would become an unbearable drain on public finances.
Hunt had previously vowed to push through the so-called “supply side reforms”, which included a planning “reset” as well as the zones. However, he also said that cuts would be made across departments.
One Whitehall insider told the Financial Times that investment zones would be “kept on life support, then quietly killed”.
The deadline for formal bids was Friday, with a full list originally expected to be published this week. Instead, the announcement of submissions has been delayed until the end of the month at the earliest.
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