Green Freeports Programme Board Meeting Four Summary Minutes: November 2023

Attendees and apologies

Present

Scottish Government (SG)

• Gregor Irwin, Director General (DG) DG Economy (co-chair)
• Colin Cook, Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the Green Freeports Programme, Director of Economic Development (DED)
• Andy Hogg, Deputy Director, Investment and Financial Services, deputising for Richard Rollison, Director for International Trade and Investment
• Lewis Hedge, Deputy Director, Fair Work 
• representative deputising for Alison Irvine, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Transport Scotland 
• representative deputising for Energy Transition and De-Carbonisation Policy
• Green Freeports Programme Director, Economic Development Directorate (DED)
• Head of Green Freeports Policy and Delivery, DED
• Governance and Communications Team Leader, Green Freeports, DED

UK Government (UKG)

• Brendan Threlfall, DG Union and Windsor Framework, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) (co-chair)
• Carmen Suarez, SRO for UK Freeports Programme, Director, Major Programmes, DLUHC
• representative for Customs Compliance, Transit and Freeports, Home Office
• Iseabail MacTaggart, Deputy Director, Department for Business and Trade
• Sorya Haggarty, Deputy Director, Strategy, Devolution and Cross-Cutting Business Tax (Business and International Tax Group), His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT)
• representative for Goods, Biosecurity and Border Fluidity Unit, Border Policy and International Migration Directorate, Home Office 
• representative for Investment Zones, Freeports and English Devolution, HMT
• Freeports Programme Director, DLUHC
• Head of UK Freeport Delivery, Devolved Nations, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, DLUHC
• Delivery Lead – Freeports in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, DLUHC

Apologies

• Andrew Scott, Director of Tax and Revenues, SG

• Fran Pacitti, Deputy Director, Off-shore Wind, SG

• Head of Energy Transition and De-Carbonisation Policy, SG 

• Sean Neill, Director for Local Government and Housing, SG

• Sally Beggs, Deputy Director, Customs and Borders Design (Customs and Borders Group) His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), UKG

• Kris Krasnowski, Deputy Director for Policy and Delivery, Scotland Office, UKG

Items and actions

Welcome and introduction

The chair welcomed members to the fourth meeting of the Green Freeports Programme Board.

The chair noted that the joint SG/UKG team had made a lot of progress since the last meeting. One outline business case (OBC) has been received, jointly appraised (i.e assessed) and is ready for review before being sent to ministers. 

The chair also noted the joint SG/UKG work on Investment Zones in Scotland has started, and suggested this board oversee this work, with some small changes to what it covers. Co-chairs agreed to discuss further.

Minutes and terms of reference

The minutes of the 6 September 2023 meeting and the updated terms of reference were approved without changes. 

Progress updates

The SG and DLUHC Programme Directors updated the board on progress across the programme.

Programme Developments

• in addition to the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport OBC, which was the main focus of this meeting, the Forth Green Freeport OBC had been received in the last few days and is now being assessed
• at the Autumn Statement the Chancellor had announced that the window for the reserved tax reliefs would be extended to 2031. The UK Government was keen to discuss with SG whether devolved tax reliefs could be extended in the same way. Officials are discussing how the extension would work and what it would mean for Green Freeports 
• UKG will shortly publish a delivery roadmap showing how different departments will support the Freeport programme. Some actions will apply only in England, while others will apply across the UK. Officials will discuss the detail and consider whether the Scottish Government should take similar action in areas it controls.

Inverness and Cromarty Firth OBC appraisal

The SG and DLUHC Team Unit Heads summarised the process and result of the appraisal (i.e. assessment) of the Inverness and Cromarty Firth OBC. 

Process

• the appraisal process followed the agreed process and involved around 30 specialists from both governments
• the feedback and suggested actions were then pulled together by the joint team, who reviewed and agreed a final set of actions
• these were then checked and approved by a joint senior officials panel before being sent to the board