Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
Paragraph: 29
Designate gigafactory sites as strategically important and grant special economic status
Recommendation
There are limited number of potential gigafactory sites—but we have enough sites in the UK to meet the nation’s needs, including sites in the UK’s key automotive clusters. These sites are strategic national assets and should be treated as such. The Government must designate gigafactory sites as strategically important sites and 50 Batteries for electric vehicle manufacturing work with local partners to put together a targeted package of support, with a view to attracting investors and ensuring gigafactories can be built at pace. These sites should be given priority for improvements to energy and transport infrastructure. The Government should work with local partners to grant those areas special economic status.
Government Response Summary
The government committed to supporting strategically important investments, including into gigafactories, through measures like a new Ministerial Investment Group, Investment Zones (some focused on Advanced Manufacturing with extended funding/tax reliefs), and a £150 million Investment Opportunity Fund.
Paragraph Reference:
29
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
• Establish a single project office led by the Department for Business and Trade to coordinate support from central government, local authorities, and private companies. A) At Autumn Statement 2023, the Chancellor unveiled a raft of measures that will support investment, including into gigafactories. For example: • The Government has accepted in principle the headline recommendations of Lord Harrington’s review into increasing foreign direct investment. A new Ministerial Investment Group will be established, tasked with driving the Government’s ambition on investment. This will be backed by additional resource and an improved toolkit for the Office for Investment (who remove barriers across HMG departments and agencies), allowing it to deepen its world- class concierge offer to strategically important investors. • There will be 13 Investment Zones across the UK, with 8 in England and 2 in both Scotland and Wales. There will also be an Investment Zone in Northern Ireland. Of the 7 publicly announced Investment Zones, 5 (North East, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, East Midlands, and West Midlands) have chosen Advanced Manufacturing as their sector of focus. • The Investment Zone funding envelope and freeport tax reliefs have been extended from 5 to 10 years, and a new £150 million Investment Opportunity Fund for freeports and Investment Zones (designed to aid with securing specific business investment opportunities) has been announced. • The Department for Business and Trade has sector teams specifically providing support to foreign direct investment in the automotive sector. Part of this support includes significant on the groundwork with companies looking to establish gigafactories, assessing company needs and available locations to ensure that the potential sites meet the requirements of the business. These are requirements such as assessing access infrastructure, utilities and size, as well as customers, supply chain and staffing availability.