Tourism: Regional Development Agencies

Mr. Sanders
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy to ring-fence funding allocated to regional development agencies for the promotion of the tourism industry.

Margaret Hodge
The regional development agencies (RDAs) budgets are set as part of the spending review process. In CSR 2007, the RDAs were given budgets over three years to help them prepare their corporate plans for this period.

Six Government Departments contribute towards the RDAs’ single budget and the RDAs are then free to spend according to their regional priorities. This policy is consistent with the Government’s determination to decentralise decision-making wherever possible. We do not ring-fence funding for specific purposes.