Examination of Witnesses (Questions 500-503)
RT HON
RICHARD CABORN
24 OCTOBER 2006
Q500 Dr Pugh: May I ask you to reflect
on the partnership you may or may not have with other departments
in Government? Clearly there is a need in terms of promoting tourism
to look at other things as well and help the promotion of tourism.
For example, you need housing so young people can stay in seaside
resorts and the like and find affordable accommodation. Equally,
one of your predecessors, Kim Howells, went round many of the
seaside resorts and he said that wherever he went people made
points about transport links and the inadequacy of them. Clearly
if we are to have successful coastal tourism we have to have a
number of things going right as well both in terms of housing
and in terms of transport. Is there a sufficient partnership between
the various departments of Government to ensure that things do
go right or is there still something of a silo mentality here?
Mr Caborn: To be absolutely honest,
I do think there was a silo mentality. If you look at where tourism
has been, it has slopped around many government departments in
England. It has never been the case in Wales and it has never
been the case in Scotland or indeed in Northern Ireland but it
has in England, which is why three or four years ago we took the
decision to put that into a multi-agency. Rather than it slopping
around somewhere we decided to put it inside the regional development
agencies, a multi-agency organisation, which has the sole objective
of driving up the wealth creation of their region. That is why
we put tourism there, because we saw it as a major economic driver.
Before then it had gone round DTI, to the Home Office to DCMS,
it had slopped around Whitehall bouncing from pillar to post.
I do know that because when I used to chair the Trade and Industry
Committee we argued then that we ought to find a home inside the
economic sector. We have done that in DCMS by putting it inside
the RDAs which are an economic driver. That is the reality.
Q501 Dr Pugh: I can understand that
it is entirely desirable to have a regional overview and to integrate
these things at a regional level, but also necessarily a number
of government departments are involved in the process and therefore
there is a need for there to be an overview at a central government
level. What I am wondering is what your Department does in terms
of meeting other departments like DCLG and so on to facilitate
that, to make that happen, to have a general focus not just on
tourism but what actually makes tourism happen.
Mr Caborn: We worked with the
Department for Transport, DCLG on the good practice planning guidance
for tourism, which was published by DCLG this year and there are
several areas where we work together as departments on the whole
question of tourism. I do come back, if you are asking about the
day-to-day activity, to the fact that is now taking place inside
the regional development agencies, which is a multi-agency for
Government anyway with a very specific objective. That is where
I believe the focus has to be to drive up both the quantity and
quality of tourism.
Q502 Dr Pugh: Would you feel it appropriate
for example if your Department had input into housing strategy
at a national level simply because housing is a big problem which
has been brought up in all our inquiries into all the coastal
towns we looked at? I am not saying you are responsible for solving
it, but you have a view on what effect it will have on the tourist
economy.
Mr Caborn: Yes, in the normal
course of Government we would have a view. If it is something
on open spaces or in other areas of sustainable communities, in
these areas yes, we would have an input. We would have an input
in terms of the arts, culture and so on. We would make our contribution
to that debate. That is one thing about developing the policy
and it is then about delivering it. The delivery mechanism, as
far as tourism is concerned and therefore this area you are talking
about, is actually through the regional development agencies.
Q503 Dr Pugh: Just to touch briefly
on the issue of transport and transport links, do you make representations
to the Department for Transport about what transport links would
beneficially help inbound tourism?
Mr Caborn: Absolutely. As I said,
the good practice tourism guide which went out was a case in point
where the Department for Transport was one of those, along with
other departments, which came together to look at that at a strategic
level.
Chair: Thank you very much indeed Minister.
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