Question reference: S5W-24788
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 15 August 2019
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Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 5 September 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make any applications to the UK Freeports Advisory Panel in order to establish Freeports in Scotland and, if so, which locations will be included in the applications.
Answer
Following the establishment by the UK Government of a Freeports Advisory Panel, the Scottish Government is seeking assurances from the UK Government that the interests of the Scottish economy will be taken into account in the development of any proposals.
At this stage, there is no application process and the Scottish Government has not seen any details of the arrangements that might be put in place to establish Freeports. There has also been no assessment of the benefits that might follow from establishing free ports from the UK Government.
The Scottish Government recognises that there may be some opportunities to be gained from bringing Freeports back into use in the UK, particularly if they could be adapted to support sectors in which Scotland excels. However there are potential risks, such as in relation to overall tax revenues, costs to set-up and maintain and the potential for economic activity to be simply displaced from one area of Scotland to another. We remain uncertain about their net economic value. Scottish Government officials are reviewing the potential costs and benefits of Freeports to understand whether they offer any potential net benefits to Scotland’s economy. Any proposal must be subject to careful and rigorous consideration, and take into account the implications for infrastructure and associated costs.
Freeports will not remedy the damage caused by leaving the EU Customs Union and Single Market. The best way to protect Scotland’s economy is to avoid a hard Brexit.