Political leaders from across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool have today (January 29) unanimously backed Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen’s bid to secure the UK’s first and biggest Freeport for Teesside.
In developing the Teesside Freeport bid Mayor Houchen has worked closely with all five local councils along with local businesses that rely on the River Tees, as well as those across the region.
The unanimous backing of Mayor Houchen’s bid for Freeport status by members of the Combined Authority Cabinet means the Mayor will be able to submit his plan to government in a matter of days.
The deadline for applications is 5th February and an announcement on which areas have been successful in their bid could come just weeks later, this could lead to the first tax and customs incentives being in place as early as September.
Areas given Freeport status within the region would benefit from a wide package of tax reliefs, simplified customs procedures, streamlined planning processes to boost redevelopment and government support to promote regeneration and innovation.
Mayor Houchen has been at the forefront of developing the UK’s Freeport policy for the last three years, working first alongside Rishi Sunak before he entered government and then taking the lead in driving forward the case for Freeports and making sure their delivery is a success.
Economic analysis carried out as part of developing the bid found that the number of jobs created by the Teesside Freeport would be similar to those suggested in the White Paper developed by Mayor Houchen and submitted to government.
The 100-page report, published in June 2019, showed that a Teesside Freeport could create 32,000 new, good-quality, well-paid jobs, and could boost the economy by £2billion over the next 25 years.
Mayor Houchen said: “The governments Freeport policy is a policy made in Teesside for Teesside and I’m delighted that Cabinet has unanimously backed our game-changing bid.
“Delivering this Freeport is a key part of my plan for jobs and this bid will create thousands of good-quality well paid manufacturing jobs, boost our economy and put more money in the pockets of local workers.
“Teesside has been at for forefront of the UK’s Freeport policy for years and we are in a very strong position to be UK’s first and definitely the biggest.
“We have an enviable reputation as a world-leader when it comes to engineering, advanced manufacturing chemicals, processing and developing clean energy technologies and our bid is designed to capitalise on our reputation and our amazing skills base. It will also support our plans to become the clean energy powerhouse for the UK and help to deliver on the Government’s ambitious target for the UK to be a Net Zero nation by 2050.
“Now that we have left the EU and the transition period, Britain is poised to unleash its full potential. Freed from the anti-free trade policies of the continent and powered by Freeports and a highly skilled workforce, Global Britain is on the brink of a manufacturing renaissance and Teesside is primed to take advantage.”
Simon Clarke, Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said: “Securing a Freeport is the most significant opportunity for Teesside in a generation. I am incredibly proud that our bid is so strong, and it will turbo-charge both investment and job creation on a massive scale at a number of sites across our area.
“This is probably the biggest simple example of how we can do things differently now we have left the European Union, and it is amazing to see everyone on Teesside pulling together to help make it happen.
"For too long, we had some of our local leaders more focused on trying to stop Brexit than on seizing the opportunities it brings - now Boris has got us out, we should all be focused on creating jobs and improving lives for Teessiders.”
Jacob Young, Conservative MP for Redcar, said: “I’m so pleased that we’ve gotten to this stage after years of work into the right Freeport design for our area.
“Our plans for Teesside’s Freeport won’t just go towards protecting jobs that currently exist in our Industry, but will create over 18,000 jobs over the next 5 years, the majority of those in Redcar.
“And let’s be clear - a Freeport of this ambitious scale would never have been possible while we were part of the EU. This is only achievable because of Brexit.
"For too long we in Teesside were let down by a Labour Party that had nothing positive to add and arrogantly ignored our vote to leave the EU.
“But as today has proved, we really are seeing the dawn of a new kind of politics for Teesside. None of the negativity, that's gone.
"Instead we saw everybody come together and back this plan to deliver our Freeport and transform Teesside.”
