Another boost for Teesside Freeport
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The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have announced more than 50 measures, including a £150 million fund, to boost the Government’s Freeports policy.
Special tax incentives will be extended to 2031 and a new Freeports Delivery Roadmap will help Freeports by laying out an action plan covering the cross-government measures.
These include the new Investment Opportunities Fund which will help Freeports and Investment Zones respond quickly to land large investment opportunities as they arise. The UK Infrastructure Bank will work with Freeports to finance upgrades to infrastructure, including through flexible loans to local authorities and debt, equity or guarantees to private sector investors.
In addition, the window to claim special tax reliefs in English Freeport sites will be extended from five years to 10 years.
The Freeports delivery roadmap highlights that, since 2021, the Government has announced 12 Freeports, which are together projected to create over 200,000 jobs.
Full Government release can be found here – Freeports delivery roadmap – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove, said: “This is a comprehensive set of measures that Government will implement to accelerate Freeport delivery and maximise its benefits for all: we are doubling down on our efforts to promote Freeports to investors; we are making sure those investors have as smooth a journey through the planning system as possible; and we are stepping up our support to ensure Freeports deliver positive impacts for local people and for the long term.”
The UK Government will work with the devolved administrations to agree how the 10-year window to claim reliefs can be extended across Freeports in Scotland and Wales.