Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on local government finance of his Department's proposals on investment zones.

This Government is committed to delivering growth across the country and sees the delivery of Investment Zones as important to achieving this to date.

All eligible local authorities have been invited to express their interest in having an investment zone as part of a process which concluded on 14 October 2022. More details on the scheme were made public as part of this process.

The choice to both apply for, and then become a location for, an investment zone is entirely that of the local authority. We look forward to working with successful local authorities in the months ahead.