§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the expected total costs to public funds of the 16 enterprise zones that he announced on 18 January.
§ Mr. BaldryThe principal public sector costs of enterprise zones are rate relief and capital allowances. Neither can be accurately calculated in advance as they depend on the rate of development of the zones.
§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will detail the ownership of the sites of the 16 enterprise zones which he announced on 18 January; what measures he will use to evaluate the effectiveness of those enterprise zones; and how he will monitor their performance.
§ Mr. BaldryDesignation of the 16 sites proposed for enterprise zone status is subject to the agreement of the European Commission and to statutory consultation procedures. Precise site boundaries have yet to be determined. It would therefore be premature and potentially misleading to give details of land ownership at this stage. This information will be available as part of the statutory consultation process.
A programme of monitoring and evaluation for any new zones will be established on designation.