Examination of Witnesses(Questions 380-395)
MR TONY
WINTERBOTTOM AND
MR PERRY
PHILLIPS
TUESDAY 17 DECEMBER 2002
380. So it is £1.9 million in total?
(Mr Winterbottom) Yes.
381. To recognise London's unique role?
(Mr Winterbottom) That is it, yes.
382. And £250,000 for the gateway, which
is not a lot of money, is it?
(Mr Winterbottom) Yes, I think that is what I was
trying to say, though I probably did not say it. If you look at
the scale of the problem and the problems which you have and which
you all identify, that is a very, very small amount of money.
383. You raised the point about the continuation
of that money, in your brief or your submission, did you not?
(Mr Winterbottom) Yes.
384. Are there doubts about that, or is it simply
a question of arguing about the amount of money that you get?
(Mr Winterbottom) No, I think there are two issues.
Regional Development Agency funding now comes through what is
called the single pot, and we hope that the £2 million or
the £1.9 million, or whatever the figure we negotiate, is
added to that single pot. It is worth pointing out that the London
Development Agency has, in addition to that, committed substantial
sums, much more than thatwe have committed £7 million
over the next two yearsfrom our own single pot resources,
because we recognise how important to tourism hospitality is.
We are still in those negotiations with DCMS, though. They are
very supportive, but it is a question where there is only a certain
amount of money to go round, and England has to carve it up in
an amicable way. Obviously if you look at the comparisons with
our friends who were in here before, they have substantially more
funds to go out.
385. Let us talk about our friends who were
in here before. What discussions do you have with the regions
about the gateway role that London fulfils? Are you working with
them to build that position up, to strengthen it and to fund it?
(Mr Winterbottom) We are in dialogue and discussions
with them, and that is as far as it goes, but there is a commitment
to identify and work through that gateway role with our colleagues
in the other RDAs.
386. Who initiates that? Is that DCMS, or do
you initiate it?
(Mr Winterbottom) It has been DCMS. DCMS are very
helpful and they are trying to bring this together, but it is
a pitifully small amount of money for London to do that job satisfactorily,
and that is still of concern to us.
387. Obviously the pot could be bigger if the
regions contributed. Do they contribute at all?
(Mr Winterbottom) No.
388. Is that part of the discussions at the
moment?
(Mr Winterbottom) It will be.
389. Have they been asked to contribute?
(Mr Winterbottom) They have not.
390. But that, as you say, will be part of the
discussions?
(Mr Winterbottom) It will.
391. Who will lead those discussions? Will it
be you or DCMS?
(Mr Winterbottom) It will always be DCMS, but I think
it is what we ask them, what we want to put on the table to discuss.
392. So if you get money from the regions, you
will lose your money from the DCMS?
(Mr Winterbottom) I think we should all work together.
I think there is great teamwork. We should have great teamwork,
and I think we do. Chairman, if I may, there is an issue, though,
about ministerial responsibility. DCMS does not have a big budget
for this, and of course in terms of the Regional Development Agencies
their responsible ministries are the DTI. It is just something
I would like to point out.
393. I think it is something of which we are
aware. Do you think that tourism should be the responsibility
of DCMS? It is our fifth largest employer and, I think you said,
second largest in London.
(Mr Winterbottom) I do not know. What I feel is that
we should have a joined-up approach to tourism and hospitality,
and I do not care how that happens. We have to break down silos,
and obviously when we start talking about recruitment and training
and so forth, that brings in other ministries. Education is again
the same thing. I think we need to focus on the tourism business
and give it those resources. To me it does not matter which ministry
is responsible, as long as the others work in with it.
394. I have one final question. I think it is
obvious to everyone that the gateway aspect is important to tourism
in London and it is important to the rest of the country. Again,
we have heard from a number of other witnesses about the efforts
to build public/private partnership in an area like this. Is that
happening in London? For example, in my own area in Aberdeen we
only have one airline providing flights to London, which is a
major drawback because there is no competition. We used to have
a flight direct into the City Airport, but that did not last for
long. Do you speak to the airlines about the benefit to them of
the gateway aspect? Do they contribute? Have they been asked to
contribute?
(Mr Winterbottom) Yes, they do, and I would like to
pay great tribute to the airlines and BAA. When we did our tourism
review they spent a lot of time and gave us quite a lot of personnel
and fed into that. Clearly there are tremendous benefits from
co-working, and that is exactly where we want to get to here.
395. But have they been asked to give you any
money?
(Mr Winterbottom) They have not been asked to give
us any money. They do give some money to the London Tourist Board
at the moment, but they have given us time.
Mr Doran: Thank you, Chairman.
Chairman: Thank you very much indeed.
That was a very snappy exchange. I am most grateful to you for
coming here today. Since this is the last sitting of this Committee
this year, I should like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year. Thank you.
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