UK ports propose 10-point plan to boost investment and trade

A new 10-point plan to be revealed today will set out proposals aimed at boosting investment in the UK’s ports.

The importance of the UK’s ports for business supply chains has been thrown into the spotlight by the potential for disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

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The plan, developed by the UK Major Ports Group (UKMPG), includes proposals on planning law to allow ports to invest more quickly and flexibly. UKMPG said that these changes would increase “the capability of the UK to trade with the world, [which is] absolutely essential however Brexit plays out with 95 per cent of the UK’s trade in goods passing through its ports”.

“In the post-Brexit world, trade needs to be hard-wired into all our policy-making,” said Tim Morris, chief executive of UKMPG. “Our ports are the gateway to UK trade and it is imperative that we have the right framework in place to allow them to invest in the future and make the UK as attractive for international trade as possible,” he added.

“UKMPG members already invest more than half a billion pounds in the UK each year…Our plan focuses on 10 common-sense, pragmatic and practical ways the Government could create a better environment for ports, for trade and for investment, helping not just the ports themselves but coastal communities all over Britain.”

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The proposals include a suggestion that the impact on trade and investment be made a material consideration in planning decisions. The plan also proposes the development of pro-trade, pro investment “port zones” around specific ports and their surrounding areas.

Between them, UKMPG’s nine members own and operate over 40 ports, accounting for 75 per cent of the UK’s seaborne trade.