Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed in the spring budget plans to go ahead with 12 investment zones, each backed by a multi-million-pound injection of cash.
The low tax and low regulation areas will be ‘bold and imaginative partnerships’ between local government and a research institute that will attract investment and ‘catalyse new innovation clusters’, the Chancellor said.
Eight places across the Midlands and North of England have already been shortlisted to host the investment zones. The Government expects to agree plans with the eight combined authorities covering these areas by the end of the year.
There will also be four zones across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Each area that makes a successful application to become an investment zone will be given access to £80m of support over five years for a number of interventions, including on skills, infrastructure, tax reliefs, and business rates retention.
In order to access the funding, local areas will be required to produce plans that set out how local partners will use the powers available to boost growth in priority sectors, identify private sector match funding, and use the local planning system to support growth.
The mayoral combined authorities will lead on the proposals. Where there is no combined authortiy, an interim accountable body will be agreed.
Comparing the zones to earlier regeneration schemes, the Chancellor said that they could represent ’12 potential canary wharfs’, which show what is possible when ‘entrepreneurs, Government and local communities come together’.
The investment zones were proposed last year by then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as part of former PM Liz Truss’ growth agenda. Responding to a question on this policy in October, Mr Hunt said he would ‘implement that policy in a way that learns the lessons’ of the past.
Summarising a number of key points in his speech, Mr Hunt said: 'Investment zones, regeneration projects, levelling up partnerships, local transport infrastructure and business rates retention…more control for local communities over their economic destiny so we will level up wealth generation and opportunity everywhere.'
