The government has announced a £27.7m package for over 50 projects designed to create jobs and apprenticeships in coastal towns across the country, including areas affected by the recent floods
The money will support over 4000 jobs and provide some 1000 new apprenticeships and training places. New projects include £1.3m to diversify the tourism offer in Southend including a Seafront Apprenticeship scheme, £170,000 to develop the Arran Coastal Way in Scotland, £270,000 to develop Northern Ireland’s first lobster hatchery and £100,000 to support the creation of a new water sports centre in Colwyn Bay in Wales.
The funding is coming from the Coastal Communities Fund , which was created to direct regeneration investment to seaside towns and villages to help rebalance their local economies. Details were announced by Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, on a visit to a regeneration scheme in Hull, that will receive £300,000 from the fund to transform a disused dock into a multimillion pound technology hub.
Alexander said: ‘I’m very pleased we’re giving £17m of the fund to projects in areas hit by floods. Additionally, we have invested £5m from the fund’s reserve into the government’s programme for flood recovery.’
Bidding for the next round of the Coastal Communities Fund is also now open and bids on coastal flood protection and repair will be prioritised. This fund will support £64m of projects across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland over the next three years, the highest level of funding so far under this scheme.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: ‘This government is committed to supporting the regeneration of our seaside towns and part of that is taking decisive action to help communities and businesses affected by the floods.’
Other measures to help business following the floods include plans to defer tax payments. In February, HMRC confirmed that it would agree instalment arrangements for taxpayers who are unable to pay as a result of the floods and agreed a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods. At the time, the tax authority also suspended debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods and canceled penalties when statutory deadlines had been missed due to the floods.
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