Communities that depend on tourism will receive a major boost from a new £10 million Kick-starting Tourism Package, the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government Simon Clarke MP has today (3 July 2020) announced.

Speaking at the Local Government Association’s annual conference, Minister Clarke confirmed the new funding will be distributed to communities immediately to kick start tourism in time for the summer as part of the government’s drive to boost the recovery of the economy.

This is the latest package of support for economic recovery following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the “New Deal” earlier this week, which will bring forward £5 billion of capital investment projects, supporting jobs and economic recovery.

The £10 million Kick-starting Tourism Package, will give small businesses in tourist destinations grants of up to £5,000 to help them adapt their businesses following the coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses can use the funding to pay for specialist professional advice such as human resources, legal or financial expertise, to adopt new technology and online systems or to purchase new equipment. 100% of the money will come from government with no obligation for businesses to contribute financially.

Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government Simon Clarke MP said:

When the Prime Minister announced the New Deal, he made it clear that the government is determined to change the country for the better, uniting and  levelling up our regions.

Kick-starting domestic tourism will be key to our economic recovery and that is why I am delighted to announce £10 million in new funding for small businesses in tourist destinations, bringing jobs, investment, and financial support to the communities who need it the most.

Many areas across the country have experienced a significant fall in tourist and visitor numbers in recent months. The initiative will help ensure that tourist hot-spots are firmly open for business this summer.

In his speech at the Local Government Association conference, the minister also paid tribute to local leaders and frontline workers for their “tireless efforts” in responding to and tackling coronavirus. He also confirmed the government would publish its devolution white paper this autumn.

Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said:

Our tourism sector is hugely important – creating jobs, supporting businesses and driving local economies in villages, towns and cities across the country. It is vital that we help the sector bounce back and give it the platform to recover when it reopens from tomorrow.

This fund will help many small businesses in tourism destinations and with the infrastructure investment brought forward will provide a further boost for jobs and growth.

Today’s funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) builds on the success of the government’s £32 million ERDF investments in tourism-boosting projects across the country that are providing benefits in local areas now. Live projects include £1 million to support coastal improvements in Cornwall and £4.2 million to help the Lake District meet its low carbon ambitions.

Minister Clarke has also confirmed that over £50 million ERDF funding for shovel-ready infrastructure projects will now be accelerated and distributed later in the summer and autumn. The funding is for projects already in development which will boost local economies and visitor numbers, create jobs and promote investment.

The Kick-Starting Tourism Package is supported by the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014 to 2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

Funding will be allocated to each Local Growth Hubs based on how much of their employment base is linked to tourism and hospitality businesses. This means that coastal and rural areas – with a bigger proportion of their economy focused on tourism, hospitality and allied sectors, will get a larger share of the funds.

Growth hubs work across the country with local and national, public and private sector partners – such as Chambers of Commerce, FSB, universities, Enterprise Zones and banks, co-ordinating local business support and connecting businesses to the right help for their needs. They are locally driven, locally owned and at the heart of the government’s plan to ensure business support is simpler, more joined up and easier to access.

Activities supported through the £10 million grant can include:

• one-to-many events providing guidance to respond to coronavirus

• small grants (£1,000 – £5,000) to:

  • help businesses access specialist professional advice e.g. human resources, accountants, legal, financial, IT / digital

  • purchase minor equipment to adapt or adopt new technology in order to continue to deliver business activity or diversify

The government has published COVID-secure guidelines for people work in or run shops, branches, and stores.

The package follows the launch of the ‘Good to Go’ quality mark by Visit England last week.

Support for businesses impacted by COVID-19:

Today’s announcement forms part of a comprehensive package of support for businesses and workers during the economic emergency including:

• Earlier this week the Prime Minister announced £5 billion of capital investment projects, supporting jobs and the economic recovery, including £900 million for a range of ‘shovel ready’ local growth projects in England over the course of this year and next, as well as £96 million to accelerate investment in town centres and high streets through the Towns Fund this year. This will provide all 101 towns selected for town deals with £500,000 to £1 million to spend on projects such as improvements to parks, high streets, and transport.
• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme where small and large employers are eligible to apply for a government grant of 80% of workers’ salaries up to £2,500 a month, backdated to 1 March. The scheme will continue until end of October 2020.
• £330 billion worth of government backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses including a new Bounce Back Loans scheme, which will provide loans of up to £50,000 available to the smallest businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England will not have to pay business rates for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.
• A deferral of the next quarter of VAT payments for firms, until the end of June 2020 – representing a £30 billion injection into the economy.
• A £12.3 billion package for local authorities to deliver grants of up to £25,000 to eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
• New temporary measures to safeguard the UK high street against aggressive debt recovery actions during the coronavirus pandemic.
• The High Streets Task Force has been offering advice, online resources and support to place leaders to take action now and build the capacity for recovery and longer-term transformation.
• The £50 million Reopening High Streets Safely Fund will help councils in England introduce a range of safety measures in a move to kick-start local economies, get people back to work and customers back to the shops.

As the country to the next stage of the recovery from COVID-19, the government is returning to its central mission to level up the nation through programmes like the £3.6 billion Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund.

With 100 places across England working on Towns Deals of up to £25 million each, the Fund will play an important part in the kick-starting of our economic recovery and levelling up the regions.

Ladies and gentlemen.

In recent weeks, we have seen unprecedented heatwaves in Siberia, with areas which usually see temperatures of zero degrees Celsius reaching 25 degrees.

Across East Africa flash floods have displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Over 150,000 acres have been destroyed in Arizona wildfires.

There have been earthquakes in Mexico, floods in central China and a tornado in India.

This has the most profound impact on people on the frontline of climate change. Those who have contributed the least and have the fewest resources to adapt.

The first, and last, international travel I did as COP26 President, before the world went into lockdown, was a visit to the United Nations in New York.

I had an opportunity to talk to a whole range of colleagues. I spoke particularly to the permanent representatives of the Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries. It was a really powerful and timely reminder of the urgency we need in tackling the threat of climate change.

As the representative of one of the Small Island Developing States said to me: “Tackling climate change is an existential issue for us. If we do not get it right, we will no longer have a place to call home.”

So ladies and gentlemen, the small island nation states do not have the luxury of time.

We collectively, do not have the luxury of time.

And that is why we must act now.

That is why it is so vital that we are coming together today, to speak at this event.

I’d like to thank the organisers, E3G and the International Institute for Environment and Development for bringing us together.

As we look forward to COP26 next November, our aim is to ramp up ambition towards a climate-resilient, zero-carbon economy.

We want all countries to submit more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions, driving further cuts in carbon emissions by 2030.

And we want all nations committing to reaching net zero emissions as soon as possible.

Ahead of the summit, we have defined five areas which need particular attention to help us achieve our goals. Clean energy, clean transport, nature-based solutions, finance, and the issue we are here to talk about, adaptation and resilience.

We must help people, economies and the environment to adapt and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Adaptation and resilience is vital.

This was a personal priority for me when I was International Development Secretary in our government. At the United Nations Climate Action Summit last September, working with Egypt and friends from Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Malawi and St Lucia, we launched a Call for Action.

118 nations and over 80 organisations committed to raising their ambition.

When I revisited the UN in March, I met with these partners to discuss how we can translate these political commitments into on-the-ground action. That is what matters at the end of the day.

And I look forward to sharing the results of this Coalition later in the year.

At UNCAS, the UK and convening partners also launched the Risk-Informed Early Action Partnership. REAP as it’s known.

REAP aims to make one billion people safer from disasters by 2025.

Bringing together key actors from the climate, humanitarian, and development communities, the partnership will transform global capacity to act early against climate extremes and disasters.

We all understand that better early warning systems and robust early action plans will give communities more time to prepare for extreme weather and ultimately save lives.

The REAP secretariat, backed by the UK’s Department for International Development, is working closely with partners to develop a plan on delivering its ambitious targets.

We will work with the donor community to push for £500 million in commitments to make these targets a reality. The UK has already committed £80 million.

Of course, finance has a crucial role to play in adaptation and resilience.

The UN Environment Programme has estimated that adapting to intensifying climate change impacts could cost anywhere between $140 billion to $300 billion per year by 2030.

So, ahead of COP26, we will work with donor countries, Multilateral Development Banks and other public and private sources to increase access to finance for adaptation and resilience.

This is an area where the UK is leading by example.

Since 2011, UK International Climate Finance has supported 57 million people worldwide to cope with the effects of climate change.

And in September, at the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed the UK to doubling our contribution to £11.6 billion over the next five years to support developing countries.

But I think we all recognise that public finance alone will not be enough.

We must also mobilise private sector finance and make sure that climate risk is factored into every single investment decision taken around the world.

That is why the UK Government is working with the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment. A private sector-led initiative building resilience on-the-ground by quantifying, pricing and reducing the climate risks faced by new investments.

Particularly in infrastructure.

Since its launch last year, the Coalition has grown rapidly to over 50 members with over $8 trillion of assets under management.

I would urge any financial institutions here today to join this Coalition.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends, I believe that we are at a positive inflection point in our joint endeavour on climate action.

As we recover from the Coronavirus pandemic we are seeing Governments, business, and civil society across the world uniting in their calls for climate action.

According to polling firm Ipsos Mori, two thirds of the people on our planet believe that the climate crisis is as serious as Covid-19.

Of course, countries around the world have responded with urgency to helping their populations through the Covid pandemic, as we have done in the UK.

That is absolutely the right approach.

And as we turn our attention to the economic fightback, we need to also reflect this desire to address the climate crisis in our economic response.

On Tuesday, some of you will have seen that Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled an ambitious economic strategy for the UK.

A ‘New Deal’ to help build our economy back to health.

To build back better.

And to build back greener.

Of course, this opportunity does not just apply to the UK, but to every country in the world.

We all have an opportunity to create a fairer, greener and more resilient global economy.

One that puts adaptation and resilience right at its centre.

And we can only achieve that in partnership with all of you.

So I look forward to us continuing to come together in the lead up to COP26 to build on what we have already started.

Thank you so much.

The UK is pleased to be able to provide an update to the Committee on planning for the COP26 UN climate conference.

On 28th May, the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), with the UK and its Italian partners, agreed new dates for the COP26 UN climate conference, which will now take place between 1 and 12 November 2021 in Glasgow. As COP president, together with our partner Italy, we see this as a crucial moment for the world to come together and commit to a climate resilient, zero carbon economy. This means more ambition to reduce emissions, more ambition to build resilience, and more ambition to cooperate and support one another.

In the wake of COVID-19, we need action through multilateral institutions – including the WTO – to support a clean, inclusive and resilient recovery that builds on the principles of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Despite the pandemic, the UK’s commitment to urgent climate action has not wavered. As we work to protect our citizens and repair our economies, we must also act on climate change, and meet these two joint challenges together. In fact, coronavirus has provided a stark reminder of what happens when humanity’s relationship with nature breaks down. As we recover, we have an opportunity to build back better in every sense. We must use this opportunity to protect and restore nature, whilst reducing our exposure to deadly viruses and climate impacts.

Our overarching goal at COP26 is to raise ambition at the country level. While we recognise the constraints that many countries are facing in light of the ongoing pandemic, we encourage all countries to make every effort to come forward as soon as possible, and well ahead of COP26, with more ambitious NDCs and long-term strategies. Coming out of COP25, the Climate Ambition Alliance has brought together countries, businesses, investors and other institutions committed to reaching net zero by 2050. The UK recently launched the ‘Race to Zero’ campaign to build on this success and to encourage others to make the same commitment.

The Committee on Trade and Environment is the place to bring together objectives on trade liberalisation and climate ambition and to ensure that these are mutually enabling. We want to see this CTE do this by facilitating discussions on how to remove barriers to trade in environmental goods and services, encouraging innovation in the low-carbon and circular economies, and ensuring transparency in relevant policies and regulations. We look forward to working with the Secretariat and Members on achieving those goals.