Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they assess the success of their 2010 "Strategy for seaside success"; and whether they have further proposals in this field.

The Strategy was issued by the last Government and called on third parties to do something about the challenges facing coastal towns. In contrast to this top-down strategy which relied on distant and unaccountable regional government to facilitate ideas, we have focused on empowering local communities.

This Government recognises the economic and social challenges faced by coastal and seaside communities and is committed to making them better places to live, work and visit. That is why we set up the Coastal Communities Fund. This has provided £62 million in grants to 114 projects across UK, levering in £96 million of other funding and delivering over 8,600 jobs, 3,300 training places and over 400 new business start-ups.

We have given communities the means to take control and act in the best interests of their local area through a wide toolkit of powers, options and incentives to help drive growth and jobs. As part of the Growth Deals announced in July we have committed over £500 million to projects put forward by Local Enterprise Partnerships to improve economic competitiveness in coastal areas and, also in July, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Penny Mordaunt) was appointed Minister for Coastal Communities, to help them realise their potential and build a sustainable future for themselves.