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Proceeding contribution from Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 19 April 2012. It occurred during Adjournment debate on Regeneration.


Regeneration

The hon. Gentleman has raised two important issues. I was going to come on to those points, but I will make a comment now. The evidence given to the Select Committee about enterprise zones, and indeed my experience—I remember the first time that we had enterprise zones—suggest that although businesses moved into those zones because of the tax incentives and grants, the jobs were not necessarily new. It remains to be seen whether enterprise zones will create new jobs: if they do, that will be great. However, those jobs will not necessarily be available to people from the most disadvantaged areas, because other things such as training, skills, transport and good housing have to be in place. There has to be a holistic approach. I am glad that the hon. Gentleman mentioned CILs. One worrying thing about the late changes that were made to the Localism Bill before it became an Act was that it became easier for developers to wangle their way out of a CIL and for schemes to be designated as unviable if a CIL were applied. That is something that we will have to watch carefully over time. Of course we know that it is a difficult economic environment and that things will be difficult for many developers. Nevertheless, it is important that CILs are applied where possible. In my last few minutes—


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
543 c181WH 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Subjects
Housing Infrastructure Planning Regional planning and development Urban areas Regeneration
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk