Exchequer Secretary (): The Government is
announcing that the Investment Zones programme in England will be
extended from five to ten years. Each Investment Zone will be
provided with a £160m envelope from 2024/25 to 2033/34 which can
be used flexibly between spending and tax incentives, subject to
ongoing co-design of proposals and agreement of delivery plans
with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and
HM Treasury.
The Government is also announcing that the window to claim
Freeport tax reliefs in England will be extended from five to ten
years until September 2031, conditional on each Freeport
developing a satisfactory delivery plan agreed by the Department
of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and HM Treasury. This
extension will provide long-term support to businesses looking to
invest, delivering growth and jobs, and levelling up the country.
The Government will work with the Scottish and Welsh governments
with the intention of delivering the same extension for Freeports
and Investment Zones in Scotland and Wales, and will continue to
work with stakeholders on how best to deliver the benefits of the
Investment Zones and Freeports programmes in Northern Ireland.
Alongside this, the Government and the West Yorkshire Mayoral
Combined Authority have jointly announced that the West Yorkshire
Investment Zone will focus on Life Sciences and Digital and Tech,
building on existing local strengths in these sectors. This will
bring benefits to local communities and businesses across West
Yorkshire, including in Huddersfield, Bradford and Leeds.
Paxman Scalp Cooling, a pioneering health tech company, and
digital healthcare company Dedalus have committed the first new
investments into the Investment Zone worth a total of £26
million. Paxman Scalp Cooling is investing £5 million to bring
their innovative health tech products to global markets and
Dedalus is investing £21 million to deliver digital and
diagnostic tools for the NHS.
Building on the region’s research strengths and their existing
base of businesses in Life Sciences, Digital and Technology, the
West Yorkshire Investment Zone will bring opportunity into areas
that have historically under-performed economically through a
total funding envelope of £160 million over 10 years. It is
expected that the Investment Zone will help leverage more than
£220 million of private funding and help support more than 2,500
jobs over the next five years.
The Government and the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
will continue to work together on the Investment Zone to jointly
agree the outstanding elements of the programme, including the
breakdown of how West Yorkshire’s envelope will be deployed, with
a view to setting out further details in due course.
