§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) which officials in his Department he has nominated as resort champions; [24147]
(2) what action his Department is taking to support the implementation of the English Tourism Council's "Sea Changes" report. [24145]
§ Ms KeebleThe Government have welcomed the publication of the English Tourism Council's "Sea Changes" report. The report contains a number of 523W recommendations, some of which are relevant to DTLR, including one that Government Departments should nominate a senior official as a resort champion. It also explains that to take its recommendations forward with relevant key partners, the ETC intends to broker individual meetings with them to discuss plans for implementation.
Although my Department has not yet been approached by the ETC for a meeting, it is already actively supporting the regeneration of resorts through various programmes, including the single regeneration budget. In addition, Regional Development Agencies have been asked to explain in their 2002–04 Corporate Plans how they will be involved with developing regional tourism strategies, including the promotion of coastal resort regeneration.