Holidaymakers will enjoy ‘pop up’ campsites across England this summer to support the surge in demand for staycations.

Brits are expected to flock to the nation’s favourite holiday hotspots and destinations in the coming months and the government is keen to ensure red tape does not get in the way of a great British summer.

Local councils are being urged by Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick MP to support the extension of ‘pop-up’ commercial authorised campsites this summer so local economies and holidaymakers can enjoy a staycation.

Last year new measures were introduced which allowed businesses to set-up temporary ‘pop-up’ campsites without the need to apply for planning permission.

The measures allow businesses across the tourism and hospitality sectors to meet the additional demand for camping holidays.

The government is asking and expecting local councils to take a flexible approach to the enforcement of regulations. This will allow ‘pop up’ commercial campsites and existing campsites to take advantage of the relaxation of rules over the duration of the holiday season.

Measures do not prevent local councils taking action where relaxation of the rule have a negative impact on public health, the local area or the environment such as litter, noise pollution or social distancing.

Communities Secretary RT Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

Many of us are planning a staycation this year, and I’m asking councils to support the extension of pop-up campsites for tourists and not let red tape get in the way of a great British summer.

The measures will help holidaymakers make the most out of the beautiful seaside towns and countryside this country has to offer. Greater campsite capacity over the summer months will boost our tourism and hospitality industries and support the communities that rely upon visitors in their area.

By taking a positive approach we can ensure that tourism, hospitality and the people across the country have a safe and enjoyable summer holiday.

Last year the government introduced a temporary permitted development right which allows for the temporary use of land as a commercial campsite for up to 56 days, without the need to apply for planning permission.

The government would like to see more of these businesses taking advantage of this opportunity over the summer and will encourage local planning authorities to take a flexible and proportionate approach to the enforcement of planning controls, including restrictions through planning conditions on existing campsites, which may limit the temporary extension of commercial campsites for leisure use over this holiday season.

These regulations do not apply to other forms of campsites, including those for domestic use. This does not stop local planning authorities taking appropriate action where there are significant adverse impacts on amenity, public health and safety or the environment.

These provisions do not apply to unauthorised encampments.

In addition, the provisions do not remove the legal requirement for campsite licenses. Local authorities are encouraged to expedite new applications for licences to provide certainty for applicants.

• Over a quarter of a billion has been given to extend adult social care coronavirus (COVID-19) support beyond June.

• Funds will boost Infection Control Fund and vital COVID-19 testing.

• It brings the total specific funding for the sector to over £2 billion.

Made up of £142.5 million Infection Control Funding and £108.8 million for testing, the fund will help protect people in adult social care by continuing to meet the cost of rigorous infection prevention and control measures, as restrictions in wider society are eased, and supporting rapid, regular testing of staff to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

This funding brings the total funding given specifically to social care to £2 billion throughout the pandemic to help support the sector and keep people safe. This is on top of prioritising the sector for vaccines, providing regular, rapid testing to care homes and bringing in regulations to make vaccines a condition of deployment in care homes.

Minister for Care Helen Whately said:

We are keeping up our support for social care through the pandemic. This new funding will help care services continue to protect those they look after and their staff from this cruel virus.

It brings our total support to social care to £2 billion during the pandemic, along with billions of items of free PPE, over 120 million tests and the prioritisation of social care in the vaccination programme.

The new money will be a continuation of Infection Control and Testing Fund, which was due to run until the end of the month and will now last until the end of September.

Infection Control Funding is used by care homes and home care providers to keep their staff and residents safe. It can be used to:

• ensure staff who are isolating receive their normal wages while doing so
• ensure that members of staff work in only one care home where possible
• limit or cohort staff to individual groups of residents or floors/wings, for example paying for extra staff cover to provide the necessary level of care and support to residents
• support recruitment of additional staff (and volunteers) if they’re needed to enable staff to work in only one care home

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive, Care England said:

The extension of the ICF and Testing Fund is very welcome and we applaud the DHSC in securing this extension. The adult social care provider sector has worked extremely hard to continue to protect the people it supports and cares for through extensive infection control and testing procedures. This funding is a recognition of these efforts.

Care England is happy to work at speed to ensure the successful roll out of the money to the front line where it is most needed and where providers have been anxiously waiting for news.

Testing funding will continue to support providers with the costs associated with ongoing testing in care settings. This includes funding to support visitor testing to ensure residents can see their loved ones as safely as possible.

Throughout the pandemic the government has sought to protect everyone working in the social care sector or receiving social care, particularly given the increased risk people in these settings face.

Free PPE is provided to the care sector until March 2022 and to date, more than 35 million PCR swab test kits and 85 million LFDs have been sent to care homes.

Over £2 billion has now been given to the sector including infection prevention and control measures and prioritised the sector for the vaccine.

We will publish detailed grant determination in the coming days.

More details on the Infection Control Fund are available.

The government had published toolkits through Skills for Care to reinforce infection prevention and control procedures among staff and visitors to care homes:

• Chancellor Rishi Sunak visited a new government-funded sports facility in West London this week as Euro 2020 enters the knock-out stages

• £25 million of new funding being delivered for grassroots football – enough to fund 700 new pitches

• Support builds on the £600 million provided to sports clubs through the government’s Sport Recovery Package and Winter Survival Package

As Euro 2020 heads towards the knockout stages, Rishi Sunak visited Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub in West London to participate in several sessions with students from local schools.

It comes after the government committed £25 million of new funding to support the growth of grassroots football at the Budget earlier this year – enough money to build around 700 new pitches across the UK.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said:

Grassroots football and facilities like Gunnersbury Park play a vital role in local communities, supporting jobs and developing the stars of the future.

That’s why we invested £25 million of new money at the Budget earlier this year – building on the £600 million of targeted support we have provided for sport throughout the pandemic.

Government support like this will help the home nations find and train up the stars of the future and I urge everyone to get behind England and Wales as the remaining British teams in the knockout stages of Euro 2020.

Mark Bullingham, FA Chief Executive, said:

Grassroots football has the power to positively impact the lives of those that play, with the clubs sitting at the very heart of their communities.

The recent £25m investment into grassroots football from the Government, the first part of their £550m commitment, is welcomed and will transform football facilities across the country.

It was fantastic to welcome the Chancellor to a grassroots training session where he was able to see the top facilities, get involved, meet the players and experience the benefits first-hand.

At the visit earlier this week, the Chancellor met a disability community sports group before helping to set up a training session for an all-girls football group from local schools, along with their coach, as well as Brentford FC player Joshua Dasilva.

Last year, the government introduced the £300 million Sport Winter Survival Package to protect spectator sports in England and, at Budget this year, a further £300 million was announced for a Sport Recovery Package to continue to support clubs as fans return to venues.

Separately, Sport England, which is funded by the government and National Lottery, has provided £220 million to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through the coronavirus pandemic. The latest figures show that £10.5 million has already been awarded to over 1,500 football clubs.

Sport England has also provided an extra £50 million to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of their Uniting the Movement strategy.

Football Foundation figures show that football participation increases by 10% at facilities like Gunnersbury Park which have been awarded a Hubs grants. In 2017, this meant 250,000 more people participated, a third of them women and girls.

Many football clubs at all levels of the UK domestic game have benefited from the multi-billion-pound package of government support, including the furlough scheme and Covid loan schemes.

Notes to editors

• Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub is part of the separate Hubs programme, which has received £4 million from the government-backed Football Foundation, delivering for community and grassroots sport, creating new jobs and boosting people’s health and wellbeing

• The Hubs Programme, formerly known as the Parklife Football Facilities Programme, began in 2015 and aims to provide quality grassroots football facilities in deprived communities, ensuring that people of all ages can experience the positive health and community benefits of participation in sport

• Figures from the Football Foundation show that participation in football increases on average by 10% at grassroots facilities that have been awarded a Hubs (Parklife) grant, and multi-sport participation also increases by 12% at those same sites. In 2017 this equated to 250,000 footballers, a third of which were women and girls

• £8 million provided will generate an annual investment of around £43 million once match funding is taken into account, which will deliver around 12 football hubs that could attract over 300,000 participants.

• The 2020 Budget allocated £8.5 million to continue the Hubs (Parklife) football facilities programme in 20/21. The government provided £8 million capital funding alongside the Premier League and Football Association to match fund investment in local, accessible football facilities, targeted at deprived communities. Local authorities with a population over 200,000 are eligible to apply.

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