Greater Lincolnshire LEP Chair ‘Delighted’ by Humber Freeport Announcement

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak confirmed in his Budget announcement today (Wednesday) that the Humber is among eight areas of England that will have a new freeport.

The eight regions selected to be freeports are East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, Humber, Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, Solent, Thames, and Teesside.

Mr Sunak said the freeport policy is “on a scale we’ve never done before” and will be key in creating jobs, making it easier and cheaper to do business.

“I see old industrial sites being used to capture and store carbon, vaccines being manufactured, offshore wind turbines, creating clean energy for the rest of the country, all located within a freeport”, he told the House of Commons in his Budget speech.

Subject to agreeing the governance arrangements and successfully completing their business cases, the eight new freeports will begin operations from late 2021.

The Humber currently accounts for 23% of all goods travelling through English ports, adding £7.6 billion GDA to the UK, and supports around 35,000 regional jobs. The Humber estuary is home to one the largest and busiest ports complexes in the UK, and is the sensible location for a freeport based on the area’s global strengths of advanced manufacturing and clean growth.

Alongside access to Humberside Airport, the A1, the East Coast Main Line and food clusters in the south, Greater Lincolnshire’s ports and logistics sector also accounts for over 25% of UK rail freight, connecting to the major energy and manufacturing providers in the North and offering significant opportunities as the UK gateway to the Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse.

The successful Humber Freeport bid was submitted by a formal coalition led by ABP with support from the four Humber local authorities of East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North and North East Lincolnshire, alongside both LEPs and partnering businesses across both banks of the estuary.