Humber, Teesside and Thames will see the first tax sites established as part of the freeports package, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed.
Initial operations will be able to begin next month, the Treasury has confirmed, having announced the eight locations during the Spring Budget.
The detail was in the Budget Report, the 'red book' laid before the House of Commons when Mr Sunak got to his feet. A further £230 million for the country's continued push on offshore wind was also documented.
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It said: “At Spring Budget 2021, the government announced eight Freeports in eight English regions, which will encourage businesses from around the world to create new hubs of global trade that will transform economic prospects and job opportunities for local communities.
“The first tax sites will be in Humber, Teesside and Thames, and those freeports will be able to begin initial operations from November.
“The government remains committed to establishing at least one freeport in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
Humber was recognised as the leading bid, submitted with Associated British Ports heading it.
Port director, Simon Bird, chairs the steering company, with ABP having put together and funded the bid in order to meet the timeframe.
He said: “It is fantastic news, great news for the Humber.
“The opportunities the freeport will bring, with two tax zones approved and a third which will come through, are fantastic and enable us to go on with all that decarbonisation offers to the North and South Bank through offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture, alongside the manufacturing.”
He said interest was strong, with the confirmation making it an even stronger case to present as an investment opportunity, as highlighted by one company.
“We have the company Pensana, having already announced its intention to develop a rare earths processing complex, confident in the delivery of a freeport.
“They can see the benefits freeport will bring, and that’s the Humber winning over other sites in the Ƶ because they had the belief. We landed a very compelling bid in front of the government, and I couldn’t be more delighted.
“A lot of work has gone into this opportunity, and the private and public sector really got after it, to really maximise it, and I can assure everyone we are doing just that.
“The local authority stakeholders have been magnificent in their support.”
Special mention was given to Cleethorpes and Immingham MP Martin Vickers, who chaired the all party parliamentary group on freeports, keeping up a constant dialogue.
North East Lincolnshire Council is to be the accountable body.
Chief executive of NELC, Rob Walsh, delighted at it being "go for the Humber Freeport", describing it as a "massive pan Humber effort to get this over the line, underpinned by cracking collaboration between Associated British Ports and the four Humber local authorities".
He said: "For our local economy, for our regional and national clout and beyond, for jobs and skills opportunities, this is all very good."
A total of 7,000 jobs have been eyed as part of the opportunity, with custom zones locations across the patch - including the four main ports - with three new tax sites highlighted for land east of Port of Hull, Goole and Able Marine Energy Park at North Killingholme.
Significant seed capital resources to ensure the benefits of freeport status are felt across all four Humber local authority areas, including at the South Humber Industrial Investment Project site between Grimsby and Immingham, are also part of it.
Welcoming the confirmation, Peter Stephenson, executive chairman of Able Group, said: “This is another important and significant milestone in the process of bringing the Able Marine Energy Park to fruition. This follows on from the strong interest from a number of manufacturers and the public commitments already made by SeAH, the Korean monopile manufacturer and by GRI the Spanish producer of offshore wind towers. All recognise the significance of the combined benefits of a bespoke state-of-the-art facility coupled with the extensive incentives offered by Freeport Tax Site status.
"Delivering the wider Humber Freeport represents a significant achievement for the area and is a tribute to the combined efforts of local authorities, the two LEPS, a selection of landowners and the team that have led the process.”
The first phase of AMEP works will see the development of up to 536 acres of land and the construction of 1,349m of heavy-duty, deep-water quays, to develop a bespoke facility to serve the needs of the offshore wind sector. It is hoped 1,500 people will be employed by 2030, with the figure doubled in the immediate supply chain.
On the £230 million Global Britain Investment Fund pot for the offshore wind manufacturing sector, RenewableƵ chief executive Dan McGrail said: “It’s great to see the Chancellor backing the growth of our world-leading offshore wind industry in the run-up to COP26 with this funding which will help to increase Ƶ manufacturing in this sector even further. It builds on the support ministers have provided to upgrade Ƶ ports to turn them into offshore wind manufacturing hubs and new centres of excellence as part of the Prime Minister’s green industrial revolution.
“Already this year we’ve seen over £900 million of private investment in new factories to manufacture offshore wind turbine blades, foundations, towers and cables in Teesside, the Humber, Newcastle and Blyth, delivering more than 2,500 new direct jobs in parts of the country which urgently need levelling up."
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