Green Freeports Programme Board Meeting Two Summary Minutes: August 2022

Attendees and apologies

Present

Scottish Government (SG)

• Louise Macdonald, Director General (DG) Economy (co-chair)
• Colin Cook, Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the Green Freeports Programme, Director for Economic Development (DED)
• Richard Rollison, Director for International Trade and Investment
• Fiona Simpson, Local Government and Housing Directorate
• Andy Hogg, Energy and Climate Change Directorate
• Lewis Hedge, Fair Work Employability and Skills Directorate 
• representative for Transport Scotland
• Green Freeports Programme Director, DED
• Green Freeports Policy Officers, DED

UK Government (UKG)

• Sue Gray, Cabinet Office / Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) (co-chair)
• Laurence Rockey, Scotland Office
• representative for Home Office
• Will Davis, Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) 
• Ruth Hopkinson, HMT 
• representative for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) 
• representative for Department for International Trade 
• Freeports Programme Director, DLUHC
• Delivery Lead, Freeports in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, DLUHC

Apologies

• Andrew Scott, Tax and Revenues Directorate, SG

Items and actions

Welcome, minutes and terms of reference

The chair welcomed board members to the second meeting of the joint Green Freeports Programme Board. The board agreed the minutes of the 14 July 2022 meeting and the terms of reference, updated to reflect agreement that the programme board would be co-chaired on behalf of both governments.

Green Freeports designations: assessment process and timeline 

It was noted that the jointly drafted Green Freeport bidding prospectus detailed what ministers should consider in their decision making. SG and UKG are ensuring that decision-making processes reflect the contents of the prospectus to ensure robust and fair decision-making.

The SG and DLUHC Green Freeport Programme Directors gave the board an overview of the joint SG and UKG assessment process, senior civil service moderation, the outcomes, and analysis.

In discussion, it was noted:

• the Programme Board confirmed that they were content that the assessment and moderation process followed what was agreed in the joint bidding prospectus, and that it was both fair and robust 
• that going forward it would be necessary to address the link between Green Freeport designations and other relevant strategic policy, funding and planning frameworks
• after decisions on the winning bids, there would be a separate process for formal approval of the tax and customs sites
• the board validated the process and appointable list