Promises of job creation at freeports stealthily downgraded, MS complains

PROMISES of job creation at two freeports have been stealthily downgraded by thousands of jobs, with Wales falling far behind the curve, a Senedd member warned.

- By CHRIS HAINES

Plaid Cymru’s Luke Fletcher criticised the pace of change at the Anglesey freeport as well as the Celtic freeport based around Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire.

Mr Fletcher said people were promised transformative economic benefits, tens of thousands of jobs, billions in investment and a green revolution - “but years on, we are still waiting”.

“That's a fact, that’s a reality,” the shadow economy secretary warned.

“Now, if freeports are meant to be a cornerstone of our economic strategy, then we need to actually understand exactly what we're getting and, right now, there’s a huge lack of clarity and credibility.”

Freeports, originally a Conservative UK Government policy which was endorsed by Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay, offer tax breaks in an effort to boost business.

Mr Fletcher said an initial promise of 20,000 jobs by 2030 was quietly revised down to 17,000 on the Welsh Government's website, a decrease of 15%. He added that the Celtic freeport was downgraded by 31% from a promise of 16,000 jobs to nearer 11,000 today.

He asked: “When you can downgrade a forecast by a third in just a few years, how seriously can we take those forecasts? How grounded were these forecasts in reality? And were these original numbers just designed to sell the bid more than actually reflect real outcomes?