Newham asks for an enterprise zone

21 Mar 11
A London council has called for enterprise zones to be extended beyond the Midlands and North of England ahead of this week’s Budget, in which ten new zones are due to be announced.

By Lucy Phillips

21 March 2011

A London council has called for enterprise zones to be extended beyond the Midlands and North of England ahead of this week’s Budget, in which ten new zones are due to be announced.

Sir Robin Wales, mayor of the London Borough of Newham, has written to Chancellor George Osborne asking him to set up one of the new economic zones in the Royal Docks area of Newham.

He claims the Treasury stimulus would ensure both the area and UK economy were able to capitalise on the London Olympic Games as well as new transport infrastructure such as the Crossrail project.

Wales describes the area of Newham as a ‘perfect’ location because of its proximity to the capital’s financial and business districts and other ‘enviable’ transport connections.

He called on the government not to bypass East London in its regional growth strategy.

The Newham mayor wrote: ‘Although I recognise the need to rebalance the UK’s economy so that areas in the Midlands and North benefit from economic development, I am concerned that this implies a reduced commitment from government to areas in London and the Southeast which are among the most deprived in the country.’

Osborne announced his intention to revive enterprise zones during a speech in Cardiff earlier this month. Enterprise zones were a flagship policy of the Thatcher government of the 1980s.

Under the £100m initiative, business rates will be cut and planning laws relaxed in ten areas of the country in an attempt to fuel jobs and investment. Further details would come in the March 23 Budget but the chancellor said the money would be targeted ‘in parts of Britain that have missed out it the last ten years’, mainly in the Midlands and North.

Osborne said: ‘[Enterprise zones] will be centres for new businesses and new jobs where taxes will be even lower and more restrictions on growth removed.

‘They will be the places in our land with great potential, but which need that extra push from government and local communities working together.’

But the announcement to create a new generation of enterprise zones was metwith criticism, with think-tanks arguing they could be expensive and ineffective.

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