30 regions bidding to secure freeport jobs
BRITAIN’S future as a global centre for free trade has moved closer with more than 30 regions bidding to host freeports.
The Treasury is betting that the ports – which will enjoy tax relief and simplified customs rules – will become engines of job creation.
It wants to create seven in England and one each in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
These special economic zones are considered a key element of the Government’s “levelling-up” agenda. Champions hope the areas, which can be around airports or maritime ports, will become centres for manufacturing.
Companies based in them will be able to import goods without paying tariffs; they can assemble the final product there and export it without paying a British tariff.
The Treasury has not confirmed how many bids it has received, but more than 30 areas were expected to apply ahead of last Friday’s deadline.
Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor, has submitted plans for a giant freeport that would touch all five council areas across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool. It is claimed it could create more than 18,000 jobs and boost the local economy by £3.2billion.
He said: “Make no mistake, the Teesside Freeport will absolutely be game-changing for Teesside – it will turbocharge the local economy over the coming years and create thousands of good-quality jobs for local people.” He added: “Despite what detractors of freeports say, these free-trade zones are not about reducing environmental protections or workers’ rights. “Our bid builds on our region’s enviable global reputation as the go-to place when it comes to engineering, chemicals and processing.
“It will allow us to become a magnet for even more international investment and create opportunities to reshore manufacturing jobs that we haven’t seen in this country for decades.”
He expects the first freeports could be named in the March Budget, with tax incentives in place by September.
Plans have also been unveiled for a Thames freeport, which would encompass the London Gateway and Tilbury ports as well as Ford’s Dagenham plant.
It is hoped 25,000 jobs could be created and that the project would kick-start development across 1,700 acres of land.
Felixstowe and Harwich ports have submitted a bid which, it is estimated, could boost international trade volumes by 1.3 million tons.
Sheffield city region is also bidding, arguing freeport status could lead to the creation of 28,700 jobs.
A bid by Gatwick is seen as a way of helping the area around the airport recover from a decline in air traffic as a result of the pandemic.
A recent European Parliament report highlighted the “money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance risks connected with free zones”.
It stated that freeports were often used to store “art, precious stones, antique, gold and wine collections” on a permanent basis.
However, there is no shortage of enthusiasm throughout England about their potential to revive former industrial heartlands.
The consortium behind the North East England Freeport bid – which includes Nissan, the ports of Tyne, Blyth and Sunderland, and Newcastle Airport – envisages 60,000 jobs, a boost to the economy of more than £3.4billion and £2.7billion in private-sector investment.
Martin Lawlor, chief executive of the Port of Blyth, promised a “flagship freeport the UK can be truly proud of”.
One of Britain’s keenest advocates of the concept is Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
In 2016, he wrote a report for the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, which set out his vision for how post-Brexit Britain could “increase manufacturing output, reinvigorate the North, and promote trade”. It was titled The Free Ports Opportunity.