§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received and what measures she has taken to ensure that the tourist coach industry is compensated following the effects of foot and mouth disease on the tourist industry; and if she will make a statement. [29]
§ Dr. HowellsMy right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment has received representations from the chairman of the Coach Tourism Council and a managing director of a north-east of England coach company. It is 695W the long-standing policy of successive Governments not to offer compensation for consequential losses associated with animal disease outbreaks. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is closely monitoring the effectiveness of the financial assistance measures made available by Government to rural businesses, which is worth over £250 million. This package includes £50 million allocated to the Rural Business Recovery Fund, substantial hardship rate relief and £120 million available in loans under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme. Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue will also agree to the deferral of tax or national insurance contributions where a business is in serious financial difficulty. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has provided an additional £3.8 million to the English Tourism Council to get the message across that there is plenty for the public to do in the countryside, and £14.2 million to the British Tourist Authority to rebuild confidence in Britain as a tourism destination in our key overseas markets.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the economic impact of foot and mouth disease on the tourist industry in each of the Regional Tourist Board areas. [2096]
§ Tessa JowellOur best estimate to date is that the loss of revenue in 2001–02 by the English tourist industry is likely to be around £120 million per week averaged over the eight-month tourism season. We are currently updating the assessment on which this is based in the light of the latest available data, including regional estimates made by individual regional tourist boards (these are not prepared on a consistent basis and so cannot simply be aggregated). We have not attempted to apportion the overall estimates to the individual regional tourist board areas, since the available data do not enable this to be done with a sufficient degree of reliability.