Regarding Investment Zones, I firmly support efforts to boost employment, investment and homeownership across the country. New Investment Zones will put innovation and investment front and centre which will support thriving local economies.
To attract new business and talent, Investment Zones will provide time-limited tax reliefs. I understand that the incentives under consideration include 100 per cent business rates relief on newly occupied business premises and Employer National Insurance contributions relief for qualifying new employees. A full Stamp Duty Land Tax relief is another potential benefit on offer, which would extend to land used for commercial or residential purposes.
While our planning system works well in some areas, it is too complex and burdened with excessive bureaucracy which can hold back the new homes and infrastructure that our communities need. Investment Zones will offer a bespoke approach to planning which will enable developers to innovate and better respond to the market, delivering high-quality sustainable development.
I appreciate your concern about protections for the environment. The purpose of speeding up the planning system in defined Investment Zone areas is to cut back on unnecessary bureaucratic requirements and processes that slow down high-quality development. While the Government has set an intention to remove burdensome EU requirements as part of the streamlined planning process in Investment Zones, guidance provided by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is clear that this will target requirements which “create paperwork and stall development but do not necessarily protect the environment”. Key planning policies which ensure developments protect our precious natural heritage and maintain national policy on Green Belt will continue to apply.
I am assured that there is a firm commitment across government to protect our environment. As part of the Expression of Interest process for Investment Zones, local areas must agree to require mitigation of any adverse environmental impacts of proposed development within zones.
The final offer within Investment Zones will be subject to the passage of legislation through Parliament, so the proposals will be scrutinised appropriately by Members, committees and the Lords.
I know there have also been concerns regarding Environmental Land Management Schemes. As we are no longer in the European Union, the UK is free from the Common Agricultural Policy, which did little to deliver for farmers, farming or the environment. The Government’s 2019 Manifesto was clear that the Government would maintain the budget for farming but spend it in a way that does better for farming and nature.
My ministerial colleagues and I want to support the choices that individual farmers make for their farms, boost food production and agricultural productivity. This in turn will bolster the rural economy and support communities across the country. The Government is rolling out new schemes that will support farmers to both produce high-quality food and enhance the natural environment. I look forward to reading more about these schemes as further details are announced.
We have the chance to have a farming industry that is more independent and financially resilient, with the bureaucratic rulebook of the EU era that damaged the environment confined to history. It will be an industry that champions economic growth and increases domestic production while returning nature to the land and improving the natural assets that support food production, such as high-quality soil.
I would like to direct you to the Government’s response to this matter here: https://deframedia.blog.gov.uk/2022/09/28/government-reiterates-commitm… which I hope will address your concerns.