When an update version of a Freeport was proposed for the Solent Area many years ago I have to say I wasn’t convinced by the idea, not least because the idea had been tried elsewhere in the country and had been a bit of a flop and subsequently dropped by the then Conservative Government.

Essentially, it means designating a particular geography so that it gives tax breaks to businesses locating and operating in that area, as well as easing regulation. It was supposed to stimulate economic growth and provide a new business rate income stream to the local Councils.

There isn’t much that local Labour and Conservative Councillors agree on, but the Solent Freeport idea was an exception. They both wholly embraced the idea and we had a succession of promises and promotional material that painted this picture of milk and honey for all.

It is now some years since it was all given the green light. So, how is it going ? Has it been the fabulous success that we were told to anticipate ?

A reminder… we were told it would create 16,000 jobs across the Solent area, including 7000 jobs in the New Forest district. It is pretty hard to pin down exactly how many jobs have actually been created, directly linked to the Freeport, but to date it appears to be only a few hundred jobs, at best….. certainly not the employment bonanza promised.

Another promise made was the generation of £511 million in business rates, of which £290 million would accrue to the New Forest district. Sadly, almost nothing has yet materialised. We simply haven’t seen all these new businesses setting up locally.

A further promise was that we would see £ billions of extra investment in the area, including a 40% increase in Southampton port capacity. Whilst there has been about £4 million invested in the Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre operations, this is nothing like the expectations of those who were backing the scheme.

Overall then, my assessment is that we have been given huge promises which have turned out (to date) to be well short of the actual delivery.

There will be some die hard supporters who will respond and say…. give it a chance… a few more years… the benefits will arrive in time. Forgive me for being cynical. I do think boosting the economy is really important and I will happily support things that achieve that objective. I just think that Freeport designation isn’t a very effective lever.