Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of (a) smuggling, (b) crime and (c) tax evasion at each of the Government's proposed freeports.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Freeports Programme monitoring and evaluation strategy sets out how the effectiveness and impact of the Freeport programme will be measured.
A breakdown of the amount of jobs that English Freeports estimate they will contribute to can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report . In addition, we recently announced two new Green Freeports in Scotland, which estimate they will create over 75,000 new, high-skilled jobs. These forecasts will be reviewed through a baselining exercise in early 2024 and performance against them tracked and reported on through the Government's ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the programme.
With the majority of English Freeports now fully up-and-running, we are starting to see them attract new investment to their regions. More information about how Freeports deliver for the UK economy can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report.
Freeport’s special customs status - which builds on facilitations available elsewhere in the UK - is available only on specific 'customs sites' within the wider Freeport footprint. These are secure sites administered by a specially authorised 'Customs Site Operator' or CSO. CSOs are required to obtain AEO(S) or equivalent authorisation from HMRC, an international gold standard for safety and security, and remain subject to robust ongoing oversight from HMRC. Freeports uphold the UK's high standards on security and preventing illicit activity.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the potential impact on GDP of each of the Government's proposed new freeports.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Freeports Programme monitoring and evaluation strategy sets out how the effectiveness and impact of the Freeport programme will be measured.
A breakdown of the amount of jobs that English Freeports estimate they will contribute to can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report . In addition, we recently announced two new Green Freeports in Scotland, which estimate they will create over 75,000 new, high-skilled jobs. These forecasts will be reviewed through a baselining exercise in early 2024 and performance against them tracked and reported on through the Government's ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the programme.
With the majority of English Freeports now fully up-and-running, we are starting to see them attract new investment to their regions. More information about how Freeports deliver for the UK economy can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report.
Freeport’s special customs status - which builds on facilitations available elsewhere in the UK - is available only on specific 'customs sites' within the wider Freeport footprint. These are secure sites administered by a specially authorised 'Customs Site Operator' or CSO. CSOs are required to obtain AEO(S) or equivalent authorisation from HMRC, an international gold standard for safety and security, and remain subject to robust ongoing oversight from HMRC. Freeports uphold the UK's high standards on security and preventing illicit activity.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created at each proposed freeport.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Freeports Programme monitoring and evaluation strategy sets out how the effectiveness and impact of the Freeport programme will be measured.
A breakdown of the amount of jobs that English Freeports estimate they will contribute to can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report . In addition, we recently announced two new Green Freeports in Scotland, which estimate they will create over 75,000 new, high-skilled jobs. These forecasts will be reviewed through a baselining exercise in early 2024 and performance against them tracked and reported on through the Government's ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the programme.
With the majority of English Freeports now fully up-and-running, we are starting to see them attract new investment to their regions. More information about how Freeports deliver for the UK economy can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report.
Freeport’s special customs status - which builds on facilitations available elsewhere in the UK - is available only on specific 'customs sites' within the wider Freeport footprint. These are secure sites administered by a specially authorised 'Customs Site Operator' or CSO. CSOs are required to obtain AEO(S) or equivalent authorisation from HMRC, an international gold standard for safety and security, and remain subject to robust ongoing oversight from HMRC. Freeports uphold the UK's high standards on security and preventing illicit activity.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what criteria his Department plans to use to measure the success of freeports.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Freeports Programme monitoring and evaluation strategy sets out how the effectiveness and impact of the Freeport programme will be measured.
A breakdown of the amount of jobs that English Freeports estimate they will contribute to can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report . In addition, we recently announced two new Green Freeports in Scotland, which estimate they will create over 75,000 new, high-skilled jobs. These forecasts will be reviewed through a baselining exercise in early 2024 and performance against them tracked and reported on through the Government's ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the programme.
With the majority of English Freeports now fully up-and-running, we are starting to see them attract new investment to their regions. More information about how Freeports deliver for the UK economy can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report.
Freeport’s special customs status - which builds on facilitations available elsewhere in the UK - is available only on specific 'customs sites' within the wider Freeport footprint. These are secure sites administered by a specially authorised 'Customs Site Operator' or CSO. CSOs are required to obtain AEO(S) or equivalent authorisation from HMRC, an international gold standard for safety and security, and remain subject to robust ongoing oversight from HMRC. Freeports uphold the UK's high standards on security and preventing illicit activity.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 30 November 2022 to Question 93487, whether any funding from the European Regional Development Fund was available for spending on UK programmes in 2020-2021.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Yes, funding is available up until the end of 2023.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to your response to the Answer of 22 November 2022 to Question 83567 on European Regional Development Fund: Brexit, what did the UK spend on UK Shared Prosperity Fund in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022; and what was the EU spend on the European Regional Development Fund in (a) 2019, (b) 2018, (c) 2017, (d) 2016 and (e) 2015.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund was launched in April 2022, there was no spend in 2020 or 2021. Funding for 2022/23 is £400 million as set out in section 3.1 of the UKSPF Prospectus.
The annual EU Funding available for each of the UK's European Regional Development Fund Programmes is set out in section 1.6 of the UK Partnership Agreement. The Programmes have the year the Funding becomes available plus a further 3 years in which to spend it.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much European Regional Development Funding has not been received in (a) England and (b) Scotland since the UK left the European Union; and how much of that potential funding was replaced by the Government funding in (a) England and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
As a result of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, the UK continues to participate in the EU programmes funded through the current 2014-20 Multiannual Financial Framework (MMF) which includes European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Agreement ensures that ERDF funding is available until the end of 2023. England and Scotland continue to receive the same levels of funding under the 2014-20 MMF.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) acts as the successor to the ERDF. At Spending Review 2021, the UK Government announced that funding for the UKSPF will ramp up so that total domestic UK-wide funding will at least match receipts from EU structural funds, on average reaching around £1.5 billion per year by March 2025. This upholds the UK Government's commitment to match EU structural fund receipts for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.