Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to each of the eight approved freeport bids announced as part of Budget 2021, whether each bid proposed that (a) one or more or (b) two or more hon. Members should sit on the Freeport Governance Body; and whether each bid proposed a role for democratically elected local councillors, elected mayors, or council leaders, on the Freeport Governance Body.

Bidders set out the proposed membership for their Governance Body in their bids. As stated in the Prospectus, final governance structures will be agreed between bidders and HMG.

Businesses in Freeports – like any other business in the UK – will have to adhere to the UK’s high regulatory standards. Our Freeport model ensures that the UK’s high standards with respect to security, safety, workers’ rights, data protection, biosecurity and the environment will not be compromised.