One of Liz Truss’s most intriguing policies, during her run to become prime minister this summer, was a promise to create what she called “low-tax investment zones”.

The South West Norfolk MP said the plan demonstrated that she was “laser focused on turbocharging business investment”. But what could they involve and why do they matter?

Why does the government want to create these zones?

During the Conservative leadership race, Ms Truss said her number one priority for Britain was to grow the economy.

And key to achieving that vision, she said, would be to make Britain more attractive for businesses to invest in.

With lower taxes and lighter regulation, the hope is that existing businesses in the areas chosen would flourish, and that new businesses would move in.

They would also help to progress the government’s theme of “levelling up” disadvantaged parts of the country, to close the gap between them and the country’s wealthy south-eastern region.

How will they work?

Some 12 zones are to be selected across England. National media has reported that they could include the West Midlands, the Thames estuary, the Tees Valley, West Yorkshire and Norfolk.

Businesses operating inside a central region of each zone would enjoy the lower taxes and lighter regulation.

According to one report, the Treasury is considering whether it could also offer lower personal taxes for people living or working there.

Planning laws would then be relaxed in a ring of land around that region, making it easier for housing developments to be built and workers to live close to the benefiting industries.

Where would Norfolk’s zone be?

The government has not yet confirmed where any of the 12 investment zones will go, or indeed if Norfolk will get one at all.

But sources have said that an area encompassing Breckland and south Norfolk is likeliest to be chosen.

That could mean that key towns on the so-called ‘Cambridge-Norwich Tech Corridor’, such as Wymondham, Attleborough and Thetford are all placed within the zone.

Ms Truss has previously heralded that corridor, which passes through her South West Norfolk constituency, as being “key to creating a diverse and compelling offer to the brightest and best from around the world”.

In terms of the housing which could result from it, the area would make sense, because all three towns have been identified in various documents as being ripe for further growth.