HC Deb 24 July 1985 vol 83 cc566-7W
Mr. Lord

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much per head in tourism grants was paid out in the last five years (a) throughout England and (b) in each of the English Tourist Board regions.

Mr. Trippier

The information requested is as follows:

Payments of Gram under Section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969:1980–81 to 1984–85
Regional Tourist Board Area Total Grant Paid per Head*
£
Cumbria 6.18
East Anglia† 0.22

Regional Tourist Board Area Total Grant Paid per Head*
£
East Midlands† 0.42
Heart of England† 0.20
London† 0.14
Northumbria 0.68
North West 0.57
South East England† 0.25
Southern† 1.07
Thames and Chilterns† 0.13
West Country† 1.73
Yorkshire and Humberside 1.05
England 0.59

Payments of Grant under Section 4 of the Development of Tourist Act 1969: 1980–81–1984–85
Payments Made* £'000
Regional Tourist Board Area 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 Total
Cumbria 727 780 623 351 467 2,948
East Anglia† 59 316 380 755
East Midlands† 180 246 171 450 514 1,561
Heart of England† 50 56 92 317 598 1,113
London† 401 549 950
Northumbria 418 356 456 329 224 1,783
North West 664 744 703 808 846 3,765
South East England† 51 170 746 967
Southern† 128 1,247 878 2,253
Thames & Chilterns† 179 258 437
West Country† 996 789 785 1,094 2,107 5,771
Yorkshire & Humberside 1,173 1,042 1,431 642 871 5,159
England Total 4,209 4,013 4,499 6,303 8,438 27,462
* All figures are drawn from the English Tourist Board's Annual Reports for the years 1980–81 to 1984–85 rounded to the nearest £1,000. The sum of component figures may not add to the totals due to rounding.
† All parts of these areas become eligible for Section 4 assistance only on 1 August 1982 when the scheme was extended to non-Assisted Areas.

Mr. Lord

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what major projects in the last five years received tourism grants in (a) the east of England and (b) Suffolk;

(2) what tourism grants in connection with the heritage coast in Suffolk have been given in the last five years.

Mr. Trippier

For reasons of commercial confidentiality details of individual grant offers made by the English tourist board are not published without the consent of the applicants. From 1980–81 to date 43 grants totalling approximately £2 million have been offered to projects with capital costs of more than £100,000 in the areas covered the East Anglia and East Midlands tourist boards. Of these, five offers worth £312,000 in total were to projects in Suffolk. In the period three projects (whose capital costs were all less than £100,000) on the Suffolk heritage coast received offers of grant totalling £22,440. East Anglia and most of the East Midlands region were excluded from the scheme under section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969 until August 1982.