Written evidence submitted by District Council

Evidence on the impact of Covid-19 on DCMS sectors culture, tourism, voluntary and community sector, broadband, sport and leisure

To be provided to Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee’s inquiry into the 'Impact of Covid-19 on DCMS sectors'

The Maldon District is a small coastal district in , surrounding the , Peninsular and north bank of the . A total area of 138 sq mi, 65 miles of coast line, population of approximately 65,000 and two significant Towns of Maldon and Burnham-on-Crouch.

Pertinent to this inquiry Maldon District Council services include the following;

 Strategic Tourism, advice and promotion of the District (DMO)  Economic Development and business engagement  Partnership and support for the voluntary and community sector  Community development, engagement and protection  Sports development and  Leisure services including ownership of the District’s two leisure centres, District parks, cemeteries and public quay. Significantly the Council owns and operates Promenade Park the area’s largest attraction.

What has been the immediate impact of Covid-19 on the sector

The Council has led the Community Response to COVID-19. Working with our partners to coordinate volunteer programs of support, information and food supply. COVID-19 has been the focus of most of the Council activity and has meant the closure of the Council offices with 185 staff working from home, suspension of Council and Committee meetings and instillation of interim decision-making arrangements. Total Estimated Financial Pressure on the Council is over £1,700,000, less Grant Income from Central Government at £672,000 means net financial pressure of over £1,000,000.

In line with national guidance the Council undertook the following

Activity Impact Suspension of all promotional The value of tourism to the district is approximately £215M tourism activity pa, directly employing around 2,800 FTE. Tourism and related employment equate to 16.8% of all employment (Economic Impact of Tourism Report 2018). The full impact of this period will not be fully known for some time but will equate to millions in economic impact to the area. Closure of public parks to traffic, During the spring and summer period the park attracts pedestrian access was retained hundreds of thousands of visitors who pay for parking for health reasons generating a very large income to the Council. Estimated lost parking review is over £500,000. Suspension of all public events This has meant the cancelation of around 30 events to the and all sporting events on Council end of June and several sporting fixtures. The largest of these land until July 2020 events would have around 10k people in attendance each day. Including concessions, Clubs and Events the predicted income lost to the Council has been over £30,000 to the end of June and if restrictions are extended would be around £90,000 for the season. It has also meant the cancelation of several cultural events, including our VE75 Commemorations (attendances expected in the 1000s based on Battle’s Over attendances) and the area’s largest Cultural festival - The Maldon Festival approximately 3000 people attending ticketed events Cancelation of all Council run The Council run a small number of events for community events until September 2020 benefit, including The Crouch Valley Festival of Food and Drink approximately 5000 people and the Maldon Motor Show approximately 10-12k people and 12k revenue. Closure of both leisure centres Since Friday 27th March. 178 staff members for the contract have been furloughed with only 2 staff members remaining non-furloughed (to complete essential daily site visits). The likely loss to the Council exceeds £250,000 Closure of all park concessions The full cost of these closures has not yet been calculated but until July 2020 would be tens of thousands.

How effectively has the support provided by DCMS, other Government departments and arms- length bodies addressed the sector’s needs?

The business grants, business rates holidays and furlough programmes have been vital and initially well received by our local businesses. Some local businesses have felt left out and unsupported as they are either smaller limited companies without rateable premises, have seasonal income (like event organisers) or too large to access the grants.

Maldon District Council has made use of the advice provided by DCMS including staying safe on line, changes to the VE75 arrangements and plan to tackle loneliness.

Our Tourism Team have not been able to access the fund to support Destination Management Organisations as we are not commercially funded.

What will the likely long-term impacts of Covid-19 be on the sector, and what support is needed to deal with those?

Future sector and DMO support will be critical to enable the industry’s recovery.

Lost revenue from this year, especially if restrictions persist, will be unrecoverable. Uncertainty for seasonal businesses and the events market will be huge. Clarity of future restrictions will be vital (although we recognise very difficult in unprecedented times)

In the short term much of the sector will only be able to recover once restrictions are lifted (as investment in creating new revenue streams will be unpractical over this period.)

What lessons can be learnt from how DCMS, arms-length bodies and the sector have dealt with Covid-19? Apart from the programs listed above, a few others and some information and guidance, I am not personally aware of much industry support currently available. Accordingly, I would encourage the profile of forthcoming sector support needs to be raised and publicised widely.

How might the sector evolve after Covid-19, and how can DCMS support such innovation to deal with future challenges?

Predictions for the future vary, but a few pertinent themes appear to be constant.

 Companies focus on culture and employee welfare  Accelerated reduction in traditional retail, high streets becoming centres of community and experience  Increased domestic, rural and coastal tourism and leisure time spent locally

Support and investment in coastal and rural areas, small and remote attractions, cultural, wellbeing and community events and small high streets would capitalise and support future domestic tourism. This, coupled with longer term international promotion, would assist areas like the Maldon District to recover and prosper.

The availability of online services has been vital for most during this period. But for some in isolated or rural locations this is still problematic as superfast broadband roll out has not yet reached them. Ensuring such services are in place for the future is critical.

Our local community and voluntary sector response has been exceptional and we hope this will have a cohesive cultural legacy.