The Government are announcing that the investment zones programme in England will be extended from five to 10 years. Each investment zone will be provided with a £160 million 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 for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and His Majesty’s Treasury.
The Government are also announcing that the window to claim freeport tax reliefs in England will be extended from five to 10 years until September 2031, conditional on each freeport developing a satisfactory delivery plan agreed by the Department for 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 its 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 its existing base of businesses in life sciences, digital and technology, the West Yorkshire investment zone will bring opportunity into areas that have historically underperformed 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.
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