EZ does it: What our Enterprise Zone will offer

I blogged earlier this week about the Government’s plans to re-introduce Enterprise Zones to encourage business growth.
Sure enough, George Osborne announced in his Budget yesterday that there would be 21 of them across the country, with the first 10 including a site in the area covered by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
I’d just love to tell you where it is right now, but some Very Important People are going to announce it later today and I’ve been told to keep my trap shut so they can claim all the glory.
All I’ll say is that the announcement will be of keen interest to businesses around Nottingham, and the location reflects one of the city’s industrial strengths.
What I can tell you, because the details are already out there on p33 of the Treasury’s Plan For Growth, is what the Enterprise Zone will offer:
RATES: A 100% Business Rate discount worth up to £275,000 over a five-year period for businesses moving into an EZ during this Parliament.
REINVESTMENT: All Business Rate growth in the zone for up to 25 years will be retained and shared between the local authorities in the Local Enterprise Partnership area ‘to support LEP economic priorities and ensure the returns from the EZ growth are reinvested locally’.
PLANNING: Government and local authorities to develop ‘radically simplified’ planning approaches for the EZ.
CONNECTIVITY: Government support to roll out superfast broadband throughout the EZ.
There is more. Alongside these basic rules, the government says it wants to see reduced regulations all round in the EZ, enhanced capital allowances for plant and machinery in areas where there is a manufacturing bias, the use of Tax Increment Finance, and UKTI support for inward investment into these zones or trade opportunities.
More detail will emerge later today, but these zones look likely to provide a stream of cash which Local Enterprise Partnerships had been missing. Government says it wants this money will be used to promote long-term sustainability.
So it clearly has the criticisms of the old Enterprise Zones flagged up earlier this week high in its mind.
Look out for the announcement later.