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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on which date each of the freeports announced in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 (a) came into or (b) is planned to come into operation.

At Budget, on 27 October 2021, it was announced that the first Freeport tax sites would be in Humber, Teesside and Thames. Eligible businesses that base themselves in tax sites at these Freeports can benefit from several tax incentives. On 19 November, these tax sites and a customs site in Teesside were designated meaning that businesses are able to benefit from the tax benefits and customs facilitations from that date.

The Government is working hard to support all Freeports. Subject to agreeing their business cases, we expect the next set of Freeports to begin operations in 2022.