§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the 2000 enterprise areas announced in the Pre-Budget Report fall within(a) Roxburgh and Berwickshire and (b) the Scottish Borders. [85698]
§ John HealeyThe enterprise areas in Scotland are defined as the 15 per cent. most deprived areas as identified by the Scottish Index of Deprivation 1998. There are no areas within Roxburgh and Berwickshire or the Scottish Borders that fall into this category.
However, other measures taken by the Government in the Pre-Budget Report will benefit businesses in these areas, including the announcement of the extension of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme to firms in the 261W retail, catering and several other sectors from April 2003. The Scottish Executive will introduce on 1 April 2003 a tapering mandatory small business rate relief, worth in total around £45 million to qualifying businesses. The Scottish Executive will also be distributing the Small Business Service's start-up guide, which will bring together information on all Government requirements and support for SMEs in a single start-up pack by spring 2003.
§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of local government regarding the relaxation of requirements for detailed planning permission in enterprise areas announced in the Pre-Budget Report. [85964]
§ John HealeyThe Pre-Budget report announced that the Government will consider how to encourage local authorities to introduce Local Development Orders to relax planning control in enterprise areas. The Government's proposals on LDOs were the subject of wide public consultation following the issue of the Government's Green Paper, "Planning: Delivering a Fundamental Change" (December 2001).