As a result of the floods, The Tourism Industry Emergency Response (TIER) Group recently conducted a meeting regarding aid for rural tourism recovery; please see below for more information.

At a recent TIER Group meeting, the Secretary of State, James Purnell, informed members that VisitBritain has been granted an additional £1m to aid rural tourism recovery in the wake of this year’s floods and FMD outbreak. VisitBritain will be using half this additional funding immediately to boost existing marketing campaigns including “Rural Escapes”, “Family Fun” and “Britain’s Favourite View”. The marketing will include £250k spent on TV and print advertising, £150k on online promotions and the development of syndicated radio interviews.

The other half of the funding will be used to leverage funding from partners such as the RDAs, National Trust and Hoseasons to develop campaigns for the Autumn period. (If members centres would like to be involved, please contact the EnjoyEngland team at Visit Britain).
 

The new HMO licence came into force on 6 April 2006. Under the new rules, a house is considered as being an HMO, therefore requiring a licence, when amongst other criteria the landlord is not resident and/ or the house has been converted and let out to 3 or more tenants who form 2 or more households.

From the above definition, homestay families should automatically be exempt, however in some cases, local councils have classed homestays as HMOs.

To counter this decision, it is important for homestays to demonstrate that they are not renting the rooms to students, and that the students form part of the family’s household. Homestays can also show that the money being paid to them by centres is not a market rent, and in effect only covers the provision of agreed services to the students.

Cambridge ESOL is pleased to announce that it has submitted a new suite of ESOL for Work qualifications for accreditation by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Accreditation is anticipated by the end of July 2007, and the new qualifications will be available for centres to use from the autumn of 2007. For eligible learners, the tests will attract Learning and Skills Council funding.

For further information, please download the following the document.

efw.pdf

English UK strongly supports the Government announcement today requiring accreditation for independent education providers who wish to continue to recruit international students after the introduction of the new points-based system for managing migration, which will include students from early 2009.

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Press Notice issued by the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills
www.dius.gov.uk

Any college recruiting students from abroad will in future need to be registered on a new Home Office Sponsors’ Register. To qualify for the register they will have to show they have been accredited by an approved body. This will demonstrate that they are a genuine education provider and prevent any acting as a front for the entry of bogus students or illegal immigrants to the country. The new rules are part of Britain’s new Points Based System (PBS) for managing migration.

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