• introducing the Long-Term Investment for Technology & Science (LIFTS) competition, providing up to £500 million to support new funds designed to catalyse investment from pensions schemes and other investors into the UK’s pioneering science and technology businesses. This will unlock billions of pounds of additional investment into UK scale-ups over time. These measures will help our highest-potential, innovative businesses accelerate their growth while allowing UK savers to benefit from higher potential returns. 3.15 The financial services sector will be at the heart of the government’s programme for driving growth across the whole economy. Later this autumn the government will bring forward an ambitious deregulatory package to unleash the potential of the UK financial services sector. This will include the government plan for repealing EU law for financial services and replacing it with rules tailor made for the UK, and scrapping EU rules from Solvency II to free up billions of pounds for investment. The government is focused on delivering high quality regulation that supports economic 3.16 growth. The Growth Plan announces that the Prudential Regulation Authority will scrap poorly designed EU rules that limit variable pay for senior bankers, which undermine growth and hinder financial stability. Investment Zones The government will work with the devolved administrations and local partners to introduce Investment Zones across the UK. Investment Zones aim to drive growth and unlock housing. Areas with Investment Zones will benefit from tax incentives, planning liberalisation, and wider support for the local economy. The specific interventions in Investment Zones will include: • Lower taxes – businesses in designated sites will benefit from time-limited tax incentives. • Accelerated development – there will be designated development sites to deliver growth and housing. Where planning applications are already in flight, they will be streamlined and we will work with sites to understand what specific measures are needed to unlock growth, including disapplying legacy EU red tape where appropriate. Development sites may be co-located with, or separate to, tax sites, depending on what makes most sense for the local economy. • Wider support for local growth – for example, through greater control over local growth funding for areas with appropriate governance. Subject to demonstrating readiness, Mayoral Combined Authorities hosting Investment Zones will receive a single local growth settlement in the next Spending Review period. Specified sites in England will benefit from a range of time-limited tax incentives over 10 years. The tax incentives under consideration are: • Business rates – 100% relief from business rates on newly occupied business premises, and certain existing businesses where they expand in English Investment Zone tax sites. Councils hosting Investment Zones will receive 100% of the business rates growth in designated sites above an agreed baseline for 25 years. • Enhanced Capital Allowance – 100% first year allowance for companies’ qualifying expenditure on plant and machinery assets for use in tax sites. • Enhanced Structures and Buildings Allowance – accelerated relief to allow businesses to reduce their taxable profits by 20% of the cost of qualifying non-residential investment per year, relieving 100% of their cost of investment over five years. The Growth Plan 2022 17