P&O Ferries owner DP World no longer partner in Solent Freeport Board

Southampton will be part of Solent Freeport

Port terminal operator DP World has resigned from the board of a planned freeport site following the sacking of 800 staff by P&O Ferries, a government minister has said.

Lord Greenhalgh said the company was also no longer a partner in the Solent Freeport consortium.

Solent Freeport, which is aiming to create 52,000 jobs across the UK, will be focused on Southampton and Portsmouth.

DP World declined to comment.

The Department for Transport was expected to review its contracts with the multi-national ports and logistics company, which is based in Dubai and owns P&O Ferries.

Lord Greenhalgh, who is a minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, was responding to questions tabled in the House of Lords by Lord Macpherson and Baroness Bennett about freeport contracts with the company.

He said the government was "working to urgently understand the facts of what happened in this case" and also whether DP World was in breach of any requirements as investors in the Thames Freeport, another project it had backed.

Outrage

Freeports aim to create economic activity near shipping ports or airports.

Goods imported into freeports from abroad are exempt from taxes, called tariffs, that are normally paid to the UK government on arrival.

Lord Greenhalgh added: "Freeports are expected to receive around £25m seed capital, paid to a local authority and to be invested at sites within the freeport geography.

"Release of funding is subject to approval of a full business case and currently, no full business cases have been approved."

Solent Freeport will encompass the conurbation of Southampton and Portsmouth, as well as areas of the New Forest, Isle of Wight and southern Hampshire.

P&O Ferries sparked outrage when hundreds of staff were sacked in a video call last month after it saw demand slump in the pandemic.

Workers were reported to have been escorted off their ships while being told that cheaper alternatives would take up their roles.