The Government's ambition is to make the whole country an enterprise zone, planning minister Greg Clark told the Commons at communities and local government question time on 5 September.
Mr Clark was answering questions on the Government's future plans for enterprise zones and he was pressed by several MPs on designating new zones where minimal planning restrictions would prevail.
He said the ambition is to make the whole country one, but that the Government goes one step at a time.
Meanwhile the Government has no plans to designate any more, but local enterprise partnerships would be free to confer many of their attributes.
Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley asked why the prime minister's promise there would be an enterprise zone in Stoke and Staffordshire had not come about.
Mr Clark offered to meet her to explain why but pointed out that 90% of the Black Country EZ would be in Stoke and Staffordshire.
Shipley MP Philip Davies asked why Leeds has an EZ but Bradford and Shipley do not.
Mr Clark said that, unlike the first rounds chosen in Whitehall, it is up to LEPs to designate where zones would work best.
