Consultation outcome

Freeports consultation

From:: Department for International Trade and HM Treasury
Published: 10 February 2020
Last updated: 7 October 2020 — See all updates

Detail of outcome

Earlier this year, the government ran a consultation on proposals to establish Freeports across the UK. It outlined the government’s proposals covering tax, customs, planning and encouraging innovation, and asked for views. The government received 364 unique responses. This document provides a summary of the and outlines the government’s response.

Original consultation

Consultation description

This consultation was published on 10 February. It was due to close on 20 April but was extended until 13 July 2020 to allow stakeholders additional time to respond as the government recognised that many sectors with an interest in this policy have been affected by coronavirus (COVID-19).

The government is working to boost economic activity across the UK, levelling up towns, cities and regions across the country.

As part of this, the government wants to establish Freeports, which have different customs rules than the rest of the country, that are innovative hubs, boost global trade, attract inward investment and increase productivity. In doing so, the government wants Freeports to generate employment opportunities to the benefit of some of our most deprived communities around the UK.

The government has the following objectives for UK Freeports:

establish Freeports as national hubs for global trade and investment across the UK
promote regeneration and job creation
create hotbeds for innovation

We want all the nations of the UK to be able to share in the benefits of Freeports. We are working with the devolved administrations to develop proposals to allow Freeports to be created in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in addition to those in England.

Documents

Freeports Response to the Consultation

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-2170-0, CP 302

PDF, 404 KB, 48 pages

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