By North East Lincolnshire Council becomes the accountable body for Humber Freeport projects
North East Lincolnshire Council has become the accountable body for the Humber Freeport projects, it was announced in a meeting last night.
In the first non-virtual NELC Cabinet meeting since lockdown began, councillors showed their support towards the Council acting as the responsible body for the Freeports project across the Humber authorities – acting on behalf of the Government.
At the end of last year, the Government invited different areas to submit proposals for a Freeport.
The Humber Freeport bid was submitted earlier this year, and was officially approved in March.
Freeports are a special kind of port in which normal tax and customs rules do not apply.
They are similar to ‘free zones’ or ‘enterprise zones’ – designated areas which are subject to an array of special regulatory requirements, tax breaks and government support.
They are intended to bring economic activity to their designated areas, attracting inward investment to build new facilities and therefore increasing the number of jobs available in the area.
The Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Phillip Jackson said: “This Government backing is a huge step for all concerned, and will support sites across the Humber to be truly transformational. It will provide long-term opportunities for jobs and growth.
“In North East Lincolnshire, it means that we’ll be able to maintain the momentum demonstrated in recent years across some of our most important economic sites.”
The new Humber Freeport will contain customs zones sites across the Humber, including the four main ports, and three new tax sites on both banks of the Humber.
One site is located to the east of the Port of Hull, one site is located on development land in Goole and the third on the Able Marine Development Park in Killingholme.
At the meeting, Councillors Stan Shreeve and Stewart Swinburn said the council being approached to take on this lead Freeports role was ‘very encouraging’, reflecting the tremendous amount of work that was going on within the authority, the Borough, and across the wider Humber.
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