§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money(a) Yorkshire Forward, (b) One North East, (c) East of England, (d) South West of England, (e) South East of England, (f) East Midlands, (g) Advantage West Midlands and (h) North West Development Agency have made available to the tourism industry. [7630]
§ Alan Johnson[holding answer 15 October 2001]: The tourism industry benefits substantially from spending all of the Regional Development Agencies' main programmes including SRB and Rural Regeneration. It is also a particular focus of the Business Recovery Fund for foot and mouth disease established by the RDAs largely with extra resources. With an increasing budget, greater flexibility and increased economic focus, the RDAs can continue to build on their support for the tourism industry. Figures for the total spending on the tourism industry are not available because records are maintained on a programme rather than business sector basis.