§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he has taken to help rejuvenate English seaside tourist resorts in the last three years. [152883]
§ Janet AndersonThe regeneration of traditional resorts was identified as one of the key action points in "Tomorrow's Tourism", the Government's tourism strategy—published in 1999. The strategy set out a model regeneration plan and the Government, together with the English Tourism Council (ETC), have been working with regional and local authorities and the British Resorts Association to encourage the adoption of the model plan and the sharing of best practice. Resort regeneration has been extensively discussed at Ministerial Tourism Summits and the ETC have set up a Resorts Task Force, which has recently published its report "Sea Changes" which sets out a blueprint for seaside resort regeneration.
New assistance has been provided for many resorts through the new Structural Funds (Objective 2) and Assisted Areas maps. The Single Regeneration Budget has recently made £172 million available to coastal areas and £30 million has been provided from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to benefit a number of major resorts, including Southport. National Lottery funding continues to assist numerous seaside resorts.
English seaside resorts have also benefited from actions to improve bathing water quality, with 95 per cent. now meeting EU directives and a number of coastal/resort transport schemes are progressing in line with the Government's transport strategy.