Inverness And Cromarty Firth Green Freeport Update Report June 2023

30th June 2023

Following a report agreed by Full Council in May 2023 on the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICFGF), Council members have received a further update (Thursday 29 June 2023) on the current Outline Business Case (OBC) stage of the Green Freeport process and the work to date.

Leader of the Council, Raymond Bremner said: "Work continues at pace to develop a robust Outline Business Case (OBC). It is a significant piece of work being undertaken and one of the most important projects this Council has ever been involved in which has the potential to transform the Highlands, bringing jobs, economic regeneration, and prosperity for many years to come."

The update report sets out the Council's role as Accountable Body and outlines the 10 key aspects of work the Council is leading on and/or contributing, as summarised below:

Public Engagement and Place Based Approach

The vision and plans of OCF includes a wide range of input from across the private sector, public agencies, and community engagement, including the Climate Action Towns. The review of the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan, which coincided with the bidding process, allowed for formal consultation on the plans and likely development implications, and is now at the final Examination stage. The wider implications and benefits of the Green Freeport will be the subject of wider discussion and engagement through the ‘place-based' work being undertaken in Inverness and the Easter Ross areas. Officers are also supporting the preparation of a community led place plan for the Black Isle where the implications of the Green Freeport are also being actively discussed. The ICF consortium is looking to feed in to these workstreams alongside its ongoing community engagement programme.

Seed Funding

The UK and Scottish Government are providing an opportunity for each Green Freeport to apply for up to £25m towards the cost of infrastructure and enabling works to set up the Green Freeport.

The Council has set up an online tool inviting tax site landowners (including the Council) to submit candidate projects, with specific information required on how the bids fit with the criteria that are attributed to the seed funding that has been made available by the UK and Scottish Governments.
In line with government guidance seed capital funding should primarily be spent on: -

land assembly and site remediation - for example, preparing or decontaminating brownfield land within tax or customs sites; and
small-scale transport infrastructure to connect sites within the Green Freeport to each other, the immediate surroundings, or other economic assets.
The bids will be assessed by an independent panel led by an economic consultant based on set criteria including: -

need for funding and value for money -including level of increased retained Non Domestic Rates;
deliverability/capability;
strategic fit; and
alignment with Net Zero Agenda
The scoring of bids will be carried out against the detailed criteria and weightings. The panel will make recommendations to the Green Freeport Board based on these criteria and any decision will then be subject to final consideration by the Highland Council in its role as Accountable Body prior to being included in the OBC.

Non-Domestic Rates (NDR)

Local authorities can retain the Non-Domestic Rates growth on Green Freeport tax sites above an agreed, pre-designation baseline. This retention will be guaranteed for 25 years and gives a degree of certainty for the investment in regeneration and infrastructure that will support further growth. The Council is currently working with the Green Freeport consultants and relevant Government agencies to work through the processes involved in establishing the NDR.

Land within the Green Freeport tax site in Council Ownership

The Council (through Inverness Common Good Fund account) are landowners within the Inverness tax site and work is underway across each site to reassess and amend site boundaries to maximise the economic benefit to the area. The area has been reduced to exclude any land which cannot be used for economic purposes as there would be no NDR benefit; including land which would have to be utilised for non-income generating land uses e.g., ecological mitigation.

Proactive planning advice

A key outcome for the Green Freeport's policy is increased investment within and around Green Freeport geographies. The Governments expect Green Freeports to be delivered at pace. This includes an expectation that planning processes will be streamlined whilst also ensuring the usual high standards of development.

In addition to the work packages set out above, a number of officers are feeding into other items of work that will form part of the OBC.

This includes: -

Net Zero - UHI are leading on the Net Zero Strategy workstream which is a requirement set out in the government’s guidance. Given it is a central and leading policy objective of Green Freeports, there is input from across the Consortium including the close involvement from the Council’s Climate Change and Energy Team.

Skills and Fair Work - Skills Development Scotland are leading on the Skills Strategy which is a fundamental part of the OBC and the delivery of the Green Freeport. The Council’s Economy and Regeneration team along with representation from the Education and Learning Service are feeding into the working groups and currently helping to pull together underlying information such as forecasted jobs, labour market capacity, existing skills provision, and capacity to expand provision. This will help to inform the proposed interventions to meet current and future demand.

Economic case – One of the main components of the OBC is presenting a comprehensive assessment of the economic impact than was identified at the bidding stage. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) have commissioned a consultant to undertake the economic impact assessment (EIA) required to inform the OBC. Further work is required to determine the specific sites and developments which are anticipated to take place. It is expected that the EIA will be complete by September.

Implications for Transport, Biodiversity and Environment – alongside the formal workstreams outlined above, work is underway to identify the features and assets that can and should be subject to improvement as part of the Green Freeport proposals.

The Outline Business Case will be brought to a future Council meeting prior to submission to UK and Scottish Governments. This will need to demonstrate how the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport will make a significant contribution towards meeting the local and national transition to net zero, create high-quality, long-lasting employment in a green economy, regenerate and strengthen communities across the region and reverse demographic challenges.