§ Mr. Cormackasked the Secretary of State for Trade what Community funds are available specially for tourism; how much Great Britain has received since its entry into the EEC; for what purposes the money has been used; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TebbitI refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch and Lymington (Mr. Adley) on Thursday 6 March.
Receipts from the European regional development fund (ERDF) for tourism projects are paid to the Treasury in line 565W with the practice of other EEC countries. This enables the Government to allocate more funds to tourism projects—which are concerned mainly with providing or improving holiday accommodation—than would otherwise be the case. ERDF receipts for local authorities' tourism infrastructure projects are paid to the local authorities concerned to reduce the amount of borrowing needed to finance the projects.