§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what undertakings firms have to give about their continued presence in an enterprise zone before receiving assistance from Scottish Enterprise or local enterprise companies.
§ Mr. Allan StewartSuch matters are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, but as a general rule, before any company is considered for an enterprise zone site owned by Scottish Enterprise or a local enterprise company it would have to demonstrate genuine medium-term business prospects. If an EZ site is sold to a company, the conditions of sale would probably include a first option buy-back clause operative for the lifetime of the zone. Any assistance granted to the company would relate to employment levels and any serious reduction in employment would trigger a clawback arrangement.