HUMBER FREEPORT

Last year the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak confirmed that the Humber is among eight areas of England that will have a new freeport.

The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership supported the bid for a freeport on the Humber which was led by Associated British Ports, and Pat Doody welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement.

“We have worked in partnership with the private and public sector to develop a compelling bid for freeports on both sides of the Humber, and it is one that we know exporters and importers will welcome.

“The Chancellor’s announcement of the Humber Freeport will turbocharge our economy and support levelling up in our area. We estimate that this will mean an increase of investment of £3.5bn and 7,000 high quality new jobs.”

The successful Humber Freeport bid was submitted by a formal coalition led by ABP with support from the four Humber local authorities of East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North and North East Lincolnshire, alongside both LEPs and partnering businesses across both banks of the estuary. We are hopeful that subject to Government approval the freeport will become one of the first in the country to be operational.

Careers Hub

We lead careers activity with schools and businesses across Greater Lincolnshire. In August we held a celebration event in Boston to honour the impact careers education is having on schools across Greater Lincolnshire and to showcase the work of our Careers Hub, the flagship careers support programme which runs in 122 local schools and colleges.

As part of the Careers Hub more than 200 employers regularly go into the schools to work with students and help teach them about jobs, vocations, and upcoming careers opportunities.

A variety of representatives from different sectors attended the celebration, including from the Lincolnshire CoOp, Worldwide Fruit and Micronclean. Those attending heard from local schoolteachers who explained the importance of employer-led initiatives for students. Employers also benefitted from workshops to support their engagement with schools and colleges, and work experience charity Speakers for Schools delivered a seminar on how employers can introduce work placements for young people post-pandemic.

The Careers and Enterprise Company, which part-funds the national Careers Hubs initiative, recently published national data that suggests if a school meets all eight Gatsby Benchmarks, a student in that school is nearly 10% less likely to be NEET (not in employment education or training) upon leaving formal education.

Evidence also shows that young people who have four or more encounters with employers are less likely to be NEET when they leave school.

The Careers Hub is made possible with funding and partnership from Lincolnshire County Council, North Lincolnshire Council, North East Lincolnshire Council and the Greater Lincolnshire LEP.