Tees Valley Freeport vision to create tens of thousands of jobs submitted to Government

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen first drew up a policy paper championing a Freeport in Tees Valley, which has the potential to bring 32,000 more jobs to the area, two years ago. Now the final plan has gone to Government.

Freeports are secure customs zones located at ports, where business can be carried out inside a country’s land border, but where different customs rules apply, reducing administrative burdens and tariff controls, providing relief from duties and import taxes, and easing tax and planning regulation.

Mayor Houchen said he 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, to draw up the plans.

The bid covers sites across the region, including the Port of Hartlepool, Teesworks, Wilton International, Teesside International Airport, the Port of Middlesbrough, Liberty Steel and LV Shipping. The Teesside Freeport would be the biggest in the UK and economic analysis suggests it could create more than 18,000 skilled, good-quality, well paid jobs over the next five years.

The new free-trade zone would boost the local economy by £3.2billion and increase inward investment into Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool by over £1.4 billion.

Mayor Houchen said: “After campaigning for Freeports to be set up in the UK for the past three years, I’m delighted to finally be able to submit the Teesside Freeport bid to Government so that the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool can reap the benefits of these amazing free-trade zones.

“Make no mistake, the Teesside Freeport will absolutely be game changing for Teesside - it will turbo-charge the local economy over the coming years and create thousands of good-quality jobs for local people.

“Despite what detractors say, these free-trade zones are not about reducing environmental protections or workers’ rights. Our bid builds on our region’s enviable global reputation as the go-to place when it comes to engineering, chemicals and processing. It will allow us to become a magnet for even more international investment and create opportunities to reshore manufacturing jobs that we haven’t seen in this country for decades.”

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