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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce the location of freeports across the UK; and whether the decision on those locations is linked to the Government's levelling up agenda.

Freeports will level up and regenerate communities across the UK by attracting new businesses, spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities up and down the country. At the Autumn Budget the first Freeport tax sites were announced in Tees, Thames and Humber. The UK Government remains committed to establishing its Freeport programme across the whole of the UK including in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as soon as possible and are confident our model embraces the highest employment and environmental standards. Any future process for allocating a Freeport in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will follow a fair, open and transparent assessment process.