Scarborough Business Leaders Back Call for Clarity on Town's £20m Investment

The Chair of the Scarborough's Town Board has written to the chancellor about delays to a promised £20m of funding for the resort.

The previous government had promised the funding and set an August deadline for the submission of a ten year plan. The money could be used for reviving town centres, regeneration, promoting heritage and culture and addressing safety and security concerns. Improving transport and connectivity were also key considerations.

But as the deadline approached the new government told the towns to stop working on their submissions.

David Kerfoot is calling on the chancellor to provide clarity on if and when the funds will be made available.

Chair of the Scarborough Town Board, David Kerfoot, says the uncertainty is damaging.

The full letter to the Chancellor - Rachel Reeves - reads:

SCARBOROUGH TOWN BOARD
 
Dear Chancellor,
 
Scarborough is the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire coast and was Britain’s first seaside resort. The town will celebrate 400 years as a firm family holiday favourite for millions of people in 2026. The town is the most deprived area of North Yorkshire and parts of it are amongst the most deprived in the country.  
 
However, we have grasped every opportunity and earned the trust of the people and partners here who hold the key to future local growth.    
 
In a public consultation this summer, hundreds of local people and businesses took time to help us develop a 10-year plan based around their key priorities. Thanks to their input we were at an advanced stage with planning and ready to submit to government ahead of the deadline. These priorities were to unlock the £20million long-term plan funding for Scarborough promised by the government. A transformational opportunity for this seaside town with initiatives which would make tangible differences to local lives and opportunity. But just as we were about to submit our plan for the 1st August 2024 - government instructed us to stop.    
 
Since then, we have tried repeatedly to engage with government on behalf of the town’s people and businesses to make the point that we are ready to move forward and it is a real concern that with no response we will lose momentum, interest and funding to transform the town. To be clear, without this vital funding we cannot move forward.    
 
So, on behalf of the town we serve and the people we are passionate about we appeal directly for clarity in your autumn statement on October 30th on Scarborough’s £20million. We also ask you to work with us directly on our shared mission to drive local growth and to be clear with urgency about how much of this investment we will see and when.
 
At all times we have followed and met the government guidelines in your submission process and we now ask that the funds be released to us so that Scarborough can drive forward and create economic growth for the good of all  
 
We look forward to hearing from you.
 
David Kerfoot CBE DL – Chair of Scarborough Town Board     

The letter has been backed by Scarborough Councillors and business leaders, the co-signatories include:

• Richard Boyes, Managing Director, Boyes and Vice Chair of Scarborough Town Board
• Rosemary Du Rose – Chief Executive, Beyond Housing
• Adrian Perry – President and Chairman of Scarborough District Civic Society
• Cllr Liz Colling – Falsgrave and Stepney Division, Chair Scarborough and Whitby Area Constituency Committee, North Yorkshire Council
• Cllr John Ritchie – Woodlands Division, North Yorkshire Council
• Cllr Rich Maw – Weaponness and Ramshill Division, North Yorkshire Council
• Cllr Tony Randerson – Eastfield Division, North Yorkshire Council
• Cllr Eric Broadbent – Northstead Division, North Yorkshire Council
• Cllr Derek Bastiman – Scalby and the Coast Division, North Yorkshire Council
• Cllr Subash Sharma – Newby Division, North Yorkshire Council
• Graeme Young – Chief Executive, Scarborough RUFC
• Caroline Routh – Joint Chief Executive, Stephen Joseph Theatre
• Richard Askew – Askew Brook Limited
• Jo Thompson – Managing Director Spectrum Cleaning Solutions/Director Scarborough Business Ambassadors
• Simon Bull - Managing Director, Castle Group Ltd and Chair, Scarborough Business Ambassadors
• Aaron Padgham – Director of Saint Cecilia’s Care Group
• Mike Padgham – Chairman of the Independent Care Group
• Waves Crookes & Laura Robinson –Directors and Co-founders, Seagrown
• Jeff Smith – Managing Director, Osprey Plastics
• Simon Rhatigan - Managing Director, Bike and Boot
• Louise Scott – Director, Castle Employment
• Owen Mahoney - Branch Manager, Handelsbanken
• Brian Davidson – The Grainery/Falcon Inn
• Gavin Hepburn – CEO – Dale Power Solutions
• Toby Hyam – Scarborough Town Centre Team and Local Business Owner
• Tom Fox – President, Royal British Legion Scarborough Branch, Former Leader Scarborough Borough Council

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