§ Mr. Robert C. Brownasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he has formed an estimate of the number of additional jobs he expects to accrue from the Tyneside enterprise zone;
(2) if he has formed any estimate of the number of jobs which will be lost to areas outside the Tyneside enterprise zone as a direct result of existing firms relocating businesses within the zone;
(3) if he will estimate the number of jobs that will be lost as a direct result of existing firms outside the proposed Tyneside enterprise zone losing their competitiveness in relation to new and existing firms within the zone and the loss of value of their land and other assets as a result of the establishment of the zone.
§ Mr. KingIt is not possible at this stage to estimate numbers of jobs formed in enterprise zones or the effect of the zone on other areas. But if the zone succeeds it will provide a significant stimulus to the local economy, which would benefit firms outside the zone as well as those within. We have always emphasised that we would not impose enterprise zones on unwilling authorities, and in putting in a bid for a zone the local authorities concerned evidently agree in the expectation that it will bring worthwhile net benefits to their areas.