Cuts, Costs & Questions

Plymouth & South Devon Freeport and South Hams District Council

The recent review of Teesworks highlighted an issue with ‘Freeport secrecy’ – but it’s not the only Freeport to have issues with providing public information in a timely way.

Plymouth and South Devon Freeport (PASD) took 6 months to publish a single set of minutes for a meeting held on 6th June 2023 with as yet no explanation of why such a standard document might take so long to reach the public domain.

Cuts to services, increases in speculation

Meanwhile, tax-payer funds continue to pour into the Plymouth Freeport (a limited company in which participating councils are members with restricted powers) to enable purchase of land, development of tax, customs sites and infrastructure. Residents of South Devon are wondering why millions are being borrowed by their councils to support the 25 year scheme during rising costs and public service cuts. Devon has axed its lifeline mobile library service, adult and children’s social care and respite provision is under threat, and all councils on the PASD board have raised their council tax whilst pouring officer time and taxpayer funds into the Freeport.

Lack of direction?

PASD member South Hams District Council has encountered pressure from its own councillors to remove itself from the Freeport. Having initially maintained that there would be substantial ‘costs and damages’ in leaving, the position has now shifted to ‘no-one really knows’ and that leaving would be ‘reputationally’ damaging rather than costly. But as more public money is committed, residents fear time to leave is running out. South Hams maintain there is a break clause to exit the Freeport arrangement after 5 years, but by then the council will have likely staked more than £5.5 million on its success. And surely if there is a ‘Break Clause’ for 5 years, those same mechanisms can just as easily be put in motion right at the start for a cleaner, efficient getaway? Many people hope so.

Transparency

Just before Christmas 2023 PASD finally released a flurry of ratified policies – astonishingly tardy since PASD’s first minuted Board meeting had been held over a year and a half earlier in May 2022. Amongst them was a ‘Freedom of Information Protocol.’ The Protocol states that, “The Freeport and its members will … consult with each other before making any significant disclosures of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and/or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.” Residents who are attempting to access Freeport-related information on public spending are left wondering who exactly is being consulted to make the decisions on ‘public interest’.

The Protocol goes on to state that Plymouth Freeport will “…provide Local Authorities free of charge with a copy of all information…which is in its possession or control in the form that the LA requires within 10 Working Days”.

Getting informed?

A number of EIR requests for information on aspects of PASD were submitted by residents to Plymouth Freeport member South Hams District Council in November and December 2023.
The EIR request for information on the PASD Langage energy site was turned down on grounds including adverse effect on “…the commercial interests of the Council in negotiations relating to the use of Council car parks to host events.” South Hams also declined an EIR request for the original Freeport application bid stating, “The Council does not hold a copy of the bid, as the Council did not submit the bid.” This is presumably despite the fact that – according to the Freeport’s own Freedom of Information Protocol – all South Hams needed to do was ask for it.