§ Lord Fearnasked Her Majesty's Government:
What tourism grants were given to tourism bodies following the last foot and mouth outbreak in (a) Cumbria, (b) Lancashire; (c) Cheshire; and (d) Cornwall.[HL2798]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)In 2001–02, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport allocated an additional £3.8 million to the English Tourism Council in order to help tourism to recover from the impact of foot and mouth disease (FMD). Of these additional funds, £2 million was spent on regional activity, including activity in Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cornwall. Figures are not available by county, but are broken down by regional tourist board (RTB) area as follows:
RTB Funding £ Cumbria 255,000 North West 185,000 South West 285,000 In addition, the South West Regional Development Agency launched a £3 million recovery fund, of which £900,000 was dedicated to tourism recovery for the south-west region.
During 2001–02 the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) awarded £1.85 million to Cumbria Tourist Board, £557,500 to the North West Tourist 106WA Board and £120,000 to North West Farm Tourism Initiative. Since then, Cumbria Tourist Board has received £1 million per annum from Rural Regeneration Cumbria, which is supported by NWDA to assist in longer-term recovery measures for the tourism industry, and £1.2 million will be available to Lancashire tourism businesses over the next three years from the Lancashire rural recovery budget.
The Government also announced a package of help for businesses affected by FMD, including rate reliefs, deferral of tax and national insurance contributions, and help under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme. This assisted businesses in Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cornwall, as in the rest of England.