The performance of investment zones and freeports in England

Business and Trade Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 9 Jun 2023 Closed: 24 May 2024 Parliament page
The Business and Trade Committee is launching an inquiry into the performance of investment zones and freeports in England. The Committee will examine what progress has been made so far on both investment zones and freeports. It will also consider how England can make the most of these policies now … Read more
4 Recommendations
8 Conclusions
1 Report
3 Oral sessions
4 Letters
3 Events
Activity timeline 11 events
26 Apr
2024
Report published
16 Apr
2024
Correspondence
26 Mar
2024
Correspondence
20 Feb
2024
Correspondence
10 Jan
2024
Oral evidence
10 Jan
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
21 Nov
2023
Oral evidence
21 Nov
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
24 Oct
2023
Oral evidence
24 Oct
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
27 Jun
2023
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 3 sessions
10 Jan 2024
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Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE · Department for Business and Trade The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
21 Nov 2023
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Ben Bradley MP · Nottinghamshire County Council Jan Ward CBE · Plymouth and South Devon Freeport Oliver Coppard · South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Steve Foxley · Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Thomas O Brien · Liverpool City Freeport Tom Newman-Taylor · East Midlands Freeport
24 Oct 2023
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Dr Nichola Harmer · University of Plymouth Dr Patrick Holden · University of Plymouth Dr Peter Holmes · UKTPO - University of Sussex Kevin Shakespeare · The Institute of Export and International Trade Mr James Brougham · Make UK Professor Steve Fothergill · Sheffield Hallam University Stephen Marcos Jones · Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE)
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fourth Report - Performance of investment zones and freeports in… HC 272 26 Apr 2024 12 Overdue
Recommendations & Conclusions
12 results
1 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Publication of detailed sub-national public investment statistics would enable regional inequality analysis.
The publication of detailed sub-national statistics on regional public investment would facilitate meaningful analysis, scrutiny and discussion of regional inequality by Parliament, civil society and the public. The publication of such statistics would allow Parliament to compare the investment in … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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2 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Extend detailed monitoring and evaluation methodologies to all investment zones.
The economic impacts and benefit-to-cost ratio of freeports and investment zones will be difficult to estimate. However, the approach taken by Government will still provide some information on the programme impact on various outcomes. It will allow sharing of best … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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3 Recommendation
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Publish eventual evaluation reports, detailed data, and monitoring dashboards for freeports and investment zones.
The Government must publish the eventual evaluation reports of freeports and investment zones and, where possible, the data used, including detailed local data. In the meantime, the dashboards being created to monitor freeports should be published, with commercially sensitive information … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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4 Recommendation
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Publish quantitative impact assessments for freeports and investment zones on employment, investment, and trade.
To improve transparency and to facilitate accurate cost-benefit analyses of freeports and investment zones, the Government must publish quantitative assessments of the impact of freeports and investment zones on employment, investment and trade alongside the Freeports Annual Report (see paragraph … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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5 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Freeport and investment zone success depends on long-term commitment and effective coordination.
Freeports and investment zones are examples of active, place-based industrial policy by Government, which account for approximately 0.2% of spending on economic affairs. They may attract additional investment and jobs to the areas in which they are located. The critical … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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6 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Freeports and investment zones require sustained long-term political commitment to prevent policy uncertainty.
Given the relatively small scale of public investment and the long-term time horizon of potential gains, freeports and investment zones need long-term political commitment by central Government. Cancelling those policies would create policy uncertainty and instability with knock-on impacts on … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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7 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Address critical challenges to unlock the full potential of freeports and investment zones.
Six challenges must be addressed to allow freeports and investment zones to achieve their full potential: (a) prioritised access to energy; (b) extended planning freedoms; (c) access to enhanced skills; (d) improved customs arrangements; (e) connection to wider government economic … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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8 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Roll out devolution and establish regional government tiers across all parts of England.
All parts of England should have a tier of government between local and national government, such as Metro Mayors. Devolution should continue to be rolled out with regions given new powers to drive growth and to champion their areas.
Department for Business and Trade
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9 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Link freeports and investment zones to regional leaders and include them on investment groups.
All freeports and investment zones should be linked to a single regional leader, such as a Metro Mayor, who should be held accountable for regeneration projects and link national and local government. Ministers should consider how best to include Metro … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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10 Recommendation
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Enhance scrutiny and audit of mayoral combined authorities, linking funding to engagement.
The Government must enhance scrutiny and audit of mayoral combined authorities. Improvements could include making additional funding provided to combined authorities conditional on high attendance and engagement with scrutiny meetings or piloting local audit account committees. Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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11 Recommendation
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Publish and mandate transparency guidelines for freeports and investment zones, including key documents.
In line with the Nolan principle of openness, the Government must (a) publish and (b) require adherence to guidelines on communications and transparency by freeports and investment zones. Those guidelines should ensure that regular updates on the progress of freeports … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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12 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Performance of inv…
Publish the Freeports Annual Report 2023 and commit to similar investment zone reporting.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities must ensure that the Freeports Annual Report 2023 is published forthwith to allow Parliament and the public to judge the progress made on the freeports agenda. It must commit to publishing a … Read more
Department for Business and Trade
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Correspondence 4 letters
16 Apr 2024 To committee Letter from the Chair of the Independent Review Panel on Teesworks relating to the review, 28 March 2024
Parliament page
26 Mar 2024 From committee Letter to the Chair of the Independent Review Panel on Teesworks, 18 March 2024
Parliament page
20 Feb 2024 To committee Letter from the Secretary of State for LUHC relating to Freeports and investment zones, 7 February 2024
Parliament page
27 Jun 2023 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities relating to freeports and investment zones, 22 June 2023
Parliament page