Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions officials in his Department have had with relevant stakeholders on the allocation of additional funding to support the running of tourist information centres following the covid-19 outbreak.

No specific assessment has been made regarding the potential merits of adding tourist information centres to the list of statutory services provided by Local Authorities.

However, my Department recently commissioned an independent review of Destination Management Organisations led by Nick de Bois which is looking at how best regional and local tourism is structured, funded and supported by the central Government. As many Destination Management Organisations run their own tourist information centres, or have done so in the past, the review may touch on this issue.

Last year, the Government provided £2.3 million in financial support to England's Destination Management Organisations, so that they could continue carrying out vital business support roles during the pandemic.