HC Deb 30 July 1980 vol 989 cc1504-6
Mr. Nicholas Baker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now able to announce the location of the proposed enterprise zones.

Mr. Heseltine

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced the locations of the proposed enterprise zones yesterday. Those for England are: on Tyneside, parts of Newcastle and Gateshead; on Merseyside, Speke; in Greater Manchester, parts of the Salford docks area and Trafford Park industrial estate; and in London's docklands, the Isle of Dogs.

One or two further enterprise zones will be announced in due course. One of these will be in the Midlands. The other sites announced yesterday are at Belfast, on Clydeside, and in the Lower Swansea valleys. Questions on them are, of course, for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Mr. Baker

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Government's initiative on enterprise zones will be welcomed by everyone on this side of the House and the country as central to the regeneration of the economy? Will he when reviewing other potential sites, consider placing them in areas where the benefit from them will not be destroyed by hostile Labour authorities?

Mr. Heseltine

I thank my hon. Friend for his support of this imaginative concept. I should go over old ground if I were to repeat that the object of the exercise is to establish enterprise zones in areas where there is a degree of welcome and co-operation. There are far more authorities asking for enterprise zones than we are able to provide. Large numbers of those authorities are Labour controlled.

Mr. Parry

Has the Secretary of State received any proposals from the Freedom Association concerning enterprise zones suggesting that legislation covering health and safety, trade union organisation and minimum rates of pay should be ignored? If the Secretary of State receives any such proposals, will he reject them out of hand?

Mr. Heseltine

I should have to look carefully to see who had written to me on what aspects of the matter to answer specifically the question that the hon. Gentleman has asked. I think that I can assure him that it would not be my intention, or that of my colleagues responsible for other facets of the legislation, to do anything that would prejudice public health or safety.

Mr. Hawksley

When does my right hon. Friend hope to be able to announce the location of the Midlands enterprise zone?

Mr. Heseltine

I hope to do so within the next few weeks. I realise that it is a matter of urgency. I would want to enable that area, once chosen, to catch up with the rate of progress that we hope to make in the areas already chosen.

Mr. Jay

Do the Government intend to declare north Wandsworth an enterprise zone?

Mr. Heseltine

I have to say to the right hon. Gentleman that we have announced the sites that we have chosen. There is a wide range of applications from other areas, but we shall be able to choose only another one or two in the first round. After that, there will undoubtedly be a significant pause. I am committed to one of the sites yet to be announced in the Midlands. It is unlikely that the one remaining candidate will not be chosen from somewhere in the North of England.

Several Hon. Members

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I shall call one more hon. Member from either side on this question.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it should be Conservative philosophy to have enterprise zones in every area of the United Kingdom, because that means less restriction, less government and more business? When will we get on with it?

Mr. Heseltine

I hope that my hon. Friend will see yesterday's announcement as a step in the right direction, if not the culmination of all his wildest hopes. This is an important experiment. If the lessons work as we hope, there will be opportunities to apply them elsewhere. The House will realise that substantial public resources go with the commitment, at a time when these have to be conserved.

Mr. Spearing

Does the Secretary of State agree that intervention is required by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the extent of about £50 million a year? If these zones are successful, even by the Government's criteria, it will mean that they are successful because of public money. If they fail, they will be a waste of public money. Are not both policies contrary to the stated belief of the Government?

Mr. Heseltine

The hon. Gentleman is trying to make a narrow doctrinal point. I understand that the £50 million is the full cost of the rating concession that would fall to the Chancellor if the enterprise zones were successful. I must ask the hon. Gentleman to calculate the enormous increase in wealth, jobs and investment that will have been brought about if we find ourselves with a £50 million bill.