Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support economic growth in coastal communities.

The Government is committed to promoting economic growth in all parts of the country including coastal communities.

We have supported coastal communities to level up through dedicated funding under the Coastal Communities Fund, the Coastal Revival Fund and additional funding under the Welcome Back Fund, while the Levelling Up Fund has provided around £1 billion to projects in coastal areas and over £400 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is going to lead local authorities within or serving coastal areas in England, alongside major investment in the other nations of the UK.

But it is not just about funds. 11 out of 12 Freeports and 7 out of 20 Levelling Up Partnerships are in coastal areas, demonstrating our deep commitment to unlocking the economic potential of coastal communities.

In Southport we are investing £37.5 million through the Town Fund, which will be used to deliver the brand new 1200 seat ‘Marine Lake Events Centre’ with state of the art technical facilities, significant improvements to cycle and walking paths, upgraded road infrastructure, new public spaces and an business incubator for the Towns emerging creative/digital/tech sectors.