Free Zones

(asked on 17th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the essential information required from bidders set out in his Department’s document entitled, Freeports: bidding prospectus, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the 500 word limit for bidders to set out how they will meet the minimum standard of security and infrastructure required in customs and tax sites before being able to operate as a Freeport.


Answered by
Luke Hall Portrait
Luke Hall
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 11th January 2021

The word limits set out in Section 5 of the Freeports Bidding Prospectus have been carefully calibrated to give bidders the best chance to show the strengths of their proposals. We have given bidders the room to convey the key information we need to assess bids robustly, whilst ensuring that submitting a bid is feasible within the 12-week bidding period.

Successful bidders will then be invited to develop a business case for regeneration funding, to work with HMT and HMRC to review and confirm the boundaries of their proposed tax sites, and to begin the HMRC-run authorisation process for customs site operators, ensuring proposals remain of a high standard as they move into implementation.

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