Tourism Industry and VAT

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr Williams]

I am grateful for that intervention. My hon. Friend is right: the name “English riviera” speaks for itself about the importance of the tourism sector to his constituency. He is right that more generally it would benefit just about all component parts of the UK: cities and rural areas alike. That is the spirit in which the debate and the Cut Tourism VAT campaign’s call has been made.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there is perhaps a particular challenge in those parts of the country that are overly dependent on tourism? In the south-west, tourism is a substantial part of our economy.

[Mr Williams]

My hon. Friend is right that the debate has a strong, important regional dimension. That is borne out by the representatives here today.

Such is the nature of the debate, with it being a few weeks before Dissolution, that it could be something of a damp squib. However, I would rather raise this matter with the Minister before the Budget than after it. In many ways this is an opportune moment to remind ourselves of the importance of the tourism sector. In Wales, we are celebrating Wales tourism week in which thousands of our local hoteliers and attraction owners will be showcasing what Wales has to offer. What better way is there not just to celebrate what is happening in the industry at the moment, but to promote its opportunities for growth? That is what the debate is all about.

The tourism sector currently contributes £3.1 billion to Wales’s GDP, which is 6% of its total. It also accounts for 8% of jobs in Wales—a huge number. When we add in those supporting businesses down the supply chain, we see that the sector contributes about £7 billion to Wales’s GDP, which accounts for 14% of the Welsh economy and 15% of jobs.

Quite rightly, the promotion of the Welsh tourism sector is a devolved responsibility. Visit Wales does a lot of excellent work in promoting the Principality, but on VAT it is the Treasury and this place that has primacy and that is why we are asking for action. The debate is about sustaining the tourism sector, but, critically, it is also about growing it. I believe that this could give the industry the financial jolt that it needs.

Autumn Statement

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The reason is that we started with a 10.5% budget deficit, which we have had to reduce. Interestingly, the International Monetary Fund assesses that we have had the longest and most sustained reduction in the structural deficit, and that we are forecast to have the strongest reduction in the headline and the structural deficit in the future. The IMF assessment of how we have done shows that we are restoring economic stability to this country.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

May I again congratulate the Chancellor on being a friend to small and micro-businesses? His autumn statement is first class. His extension of national insurance and business rate reliefs is much appreciated, and it is inspirational that he is going to have a full review of business rates, the most-hated tax for all small businesses. While he is feeling inspired in the demolition business—getting rid of the slabs in stamp duty—will he look at the cliff in VAT? It is a real barrier to growth, despite the fact that it is a European tax.

[Mr Osborne]

As my hon. Friend knows—this is the problem of previous Governments having handed over various powers and rights of this country to Brussels—we are constrained by the VAT threshold that we can levy in this country. I think that it is already the highest in Europe, so we are restricted in what we can do. That is why we are seeking to help small businesses in her west country constituency both through the measures on business rates, and through investment in infrastructure, such as the A303, the Dawlish rail line and the Kingskerswell bypass. As I saw a few weeks ago, the bypass is proceeding very well in her constituency.

National Insurance Contributions Bill

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

I am grateful to hear of the experience in Tamworth, and my hon. Friend is right to raise that point. Particularly for those small employers taking on their first person, the fact that they do not have to pay employer’s national insurance contributions at 13.8% will help them. In many cases, the Bill will have exactly that effect. I welcome what appears to be broad support for the measure.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

Following on from the earlier point about confidence, does the Minister agree that, although all the surveys indicate that confidence is at an all-time high, the challenge is investment? A Federation of Small Businesses survey has said that the measure will enable 28% of businesses to take on additional staff; that is what businesses want to do. Some 25% of those surveyed would invest in new machinery and equipment, and 21% in new staff training. That is exactly what we need; we need to turn confidence into a deliverable result.

[Mr Gauke]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. I pay tribute to the work that she does on the all-party parliamentary group on micro-businesses. She provides a very strong voice in the House for smaller businesses, and she is absolutely right to do so. She is right to draw the House’s attention to the FSB survey. We have already talked about the contribution that the measure will make to the taking on of more staff, but where more staff are not taken on, there will very often be investment in the business, which will clearly help it to expand.

The Bill cuts the jobs tax for 1.25 million employers and takes 450,000 of them out of employers’ national insurance contributions altogether, making it less expensive for businesses to take on new staff, so the Bill will help job creation. It contains four main measures. We have touched on the employment allowance. I will also say something this afternoon about the fact that the Bill gives effect to the general anti-abuse rule on national insurance contributions. It also amends the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 to allow regulations to be made on the certification of non-UK employers of oil and gas workers, and makes changes in connection with two elements of the partnerships review carried out by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The Bill also makes a small number of technical corrections that I am happy to take the House through, should there be demand for that; if there is not, I am sure that we can cover them in some depth in Committee.

Returning to the employment allowance, as part of our efforts to remove barriers to growth for businesses and to equip the UK economy to compete in the global race, the Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget the creation of a new employment allowance, as my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke) pointed out. It will take effect from 6 April next year. Businesses, charities and community amateur sports clubs in the UK will be entitled to a £2,000-a-year allowance towards their employer national insurance contribution liability.

The employment allowance builds on action that the Government have taken to make the tax system more competitive, and to encourage growth. That includes cutting corporation tax, increasing the rate of the research and development tax credit for small and medium-sized enterprises, increasing the annual investment allowance to £250,000, and giving a cash-flow benefit to those who invest in plant and machinery.

The objective of the employment allowance is to help businesses with the cost of employing their staff by reducing their employer class 1 national insurance contributions bill each year. It will support thousands of small businesses that aspire to grow, perhaps by hiring their first employee or expanding their work force, as well as those already employing others, or facing temporary cash-flow problems.

amendment of the law

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Monday 25th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dr William McCrea (South Antrim) (DUP)]

I thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak in this Budget debate.

Like all right hon. and hon. Members, we waited to hear the Chancellor’s proposals that would kick-start the economy, lifting it out of the despair in which it finds itself. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government opened today’s debate, outlining Government policy in the Budget for a house building programme. I appreciate that our constituents across the United Kingdom have difficultly getting on to the housing ladder. Having listened to my colleagues here in England, I can say that there is undoubtedly a social housing build problem, with affordable housing described as a national emergency.

Members of Parliament from Northern Ireland have difficulty offering proposals to resolve the housing problem, because housing is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. However, the Chancellor has offered some hope to homebuyers in the Budget, with interest-free loans of up to 20% of the value of a new build property. I appreciate that there is some confusion about the proposal, but I trust that homebuyers seeking to get on the housing ladder will not be lost in the midst of a policy that seems not to have been thought out before being announced.

On Budget day, my hon. Friend the Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson) rightly welcomed a number of acceptable announcements. He endorsed the decision to protect Government front-line services in health and education. He also acknowledged that the Government had recognised the key role that capital infrastructure enhancement plays in stimulating economic growth. That is important not only for short-term economic growth, but for our country’s long-term prosperity. However, we face a serious problem, with little or no economic growth across the United Kingdom but, sadly, no sign of it changing in the near future. We need to stimulate our economy. The Secretary of State told the House today that we needed to give business a leg up. To do so, we need to bring confidence back into the business community. Businesses need to be sure that the Government have a plan to take us out of the mess we are in. No one can deny that there is a lack of confidence. As a result, those who have money are not spending or making the investments in industry that we need so much in our economy.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

Has the hon. Gentleman read the latest report from the Federation of Small Businesses bureau, which says that the level of enthusiasm and belief that we are heading towards a recovery is higher than it ever has been? Confidence is at an all-time high.

[Dr McCrea]

I thank the hon. Lady for her remarks. I think that if we really went out into the community, we would still find a lack of confidence. If confidence were out there, those who have the money—and some certainly do—would be investing. We need to get those people to spend that money within our economy. On the other side, there is not only a lack of confidence, but a lack of finance. Small and medium-sized businesses are being starved and crippled by denial of finance.

I do not believe that we should talk down our economy, but we must be realistic about the economic situation in our United Kingdom. We want inward investment and we need to kick-start the economy. I would certainly like to see the Chancellor giving more encouragement. Many businesses are crying out for finance. They go along to the banks, but no matter how many times the Chancellor and even the Prime Minister have assured us that they are encouraging the banks to give them the money, that needed money is not getting into the coffers of SMEs. We have got to do more about that.

My constituents welcome the cancellation of the 3p increase in fuel duty, which would have been an additional tax burden not only on businesses, but on virtually every other person and family in our community.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

I welcome the Budget. It is a Budget for business and I am pleased that it is particularly good for micro-businesses, which have done especially well.

Today, we are talking principally about housing, where what the Government have done is commendable, but unless people have jobs and earn good salaries they will not be able to take up those good initiatives. The highlight is the employment allowance. The national insurance win is £2,000 off the employer’s NI bill. In my book, the Government could not have done anything better. That really plays to the agenda of micro-businesses. It enables them to get started. A very small business will be able to take on its first employee.

Many of the smallest businesses are run by women, so the reduction in child care costs in 2015, when 20% of the costs for the under-12s will be met by Government, is very welcome. For the first time, there is something that will help women running their own business; it will help the self-employed, not just those who are employed.

Many small businesses are in rural communities, and fuel is a huge issue. The fuel duty freeze is absolutely what this country needs. In September, petrol prices will stay the same and that is welcome. Clearly, we need to look at making fuel duty and the price of petrol predictable. Perhaps in a future Budget there will be an opportunity to look at a proper stabiliser, whereby when the price of fuel goes up, the tax comes down. Stability is vital, especially for small businesses. Likewise, a rural rebate on fuel duty would be welcome in some of our more out of the way communities.

The measure that will take corporation tax down to 20% faster and align it with the small companies rate is very welcome. I encourage the Chancellor and his team to look at what we could do to make that even easier for the very smallest companies. Perhaps he would support my all-party group working with the Office of Tax Simplification on the concept of a new flat tax for the smallest businesses, through the format of the business structure, so that whether it is a company, a sole trader or a partnership, there is a new mechanism. I appreciate that corporation tax as currently structured cannot fall below 20% because it would then be at the same rate as income tax, which would give rise to all sorts of problems, including people rushing to incorporate when it was not the right thing for them.

Here is another thought for the Chancellor for his next Budget: for the very smallest businesses, business rates can really cause a problem. I should like to see in the next Budget an extension of small business rate relief until the election, as that would be extraordinarily welcome. The Government could also look at trying to show those businesses that are paying business rates what they get for their money. The Chancellor and his team have been keen to enable those of us who pay income tax to see where that income tax is going, but the same argument ought to be true of business rates. Many business people say to me, “But I don’t get my bins emptied in the same way that I can see is the case if I pay council tax.” We should look at where those business rates go, and show the value for money that businesses obtain in paying them.

I had an interesting meeting last week with the valuation office. I asked it whether there was a way of making the valuation process fairer and, as I understood the explanation, it appears that the technology is there to enable revaluation to take place more frequently. A frustration that businesses share with me is that because of the time line—there is a five-year gap—there is a big difference between when the valuation is made and when people have to pay the new rate. I would not wish to underestimate the challenge, and I appreciate that the multiplier makes that not entirely straightforward.

That, for me, is the key to getting the country to move forward—helping our micro-businesses—and I welcome what the Chancellor’s team have introduced. I am delighted. Well done, and I hope that the Chancellor will perhaps take on board some of the thoughts that I have set out for the next Budget.

Beer Duty Escalator

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 5th March 2013 Westminster Hall

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

I agree with my hon. Friend that in a rural community very small micro-breweries and pubs are very important. My constituents in Devon are great supporters of Teignworthy, Isca, Hunter’s and Red Rock. However, we need to look at something creative. Has my hon. Friend considered looking at the EU rules in this area? We all seem to be saying that pubs need our support and that if beer in pubs was taxed less than the beer in supermarkets or wholesale, the situation would improve. As I understand it, EU legislation does not prohibit that distinction, but it does not make provision—

[Martin Caton (in the Chair)]

Order. That is very long for an intervention.

Autumn Statement

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Of course our ambition is for employment to increase. That is why we have made further changes to make our businesses more competitive, to help working people and to create a welfare system that encourages those who are in work. I hope she will support that.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

I congratulate the Chancellor on the good news in his statement for micro-businesses and particularly on what he has done with fuel duty and extending the small business rate tax relief. That is wonderful, but I have a particular concern about rural communities. In the detail, has he considered any further rural rebate for fuel duty in addition to the freeze he has already introduced?

[Mr Osborne]

I am not sure that this is necessarily the answer my hon. Friend wants, but unfortunately the European Union constrains the rural fuel rebates we can give to very remote island areas. That is why we have been able to introduce rebates in some of the Scottish islands and in the Isles of Scilly, but not in more remote parts of rural England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We are pressing the Commission to see whether we can extend the definition of remote rural areas so that remote parts of the south-west, for example, can benefit.

VAT on Air Ambulance Fuel Payments

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House supports wholeheartedly the work and actions of the Air Ambulance Service nationally, and all the individual crew members and staff, who provide an outstanding service to people up and down the UK; notes that the Air Ambulance Service is a charitable organisation, funded by donations given by the general public, and without any direct funding from Government; further notes that the Air Ambulance Service has saved successive governments millions of pounds; notes that the Air Ambulance Service provides an emergency service similar to the Lifeboat Service, and that the Lifeboat Service has been excluded from the EU VAT Directive on fuel costs since 1977, whereas the Air Ambulance Service has been required to pay for VAT on fuel; notes that successive governments have failed to provide a rebate or exemption to the Air Ambulance Service for this VAT; calls on the Government to conduct an urgent review of this situation; and further calls on the Government, in the next 12 months, to consider providing for grants to the Air Ambulance Service commensurate to the sums incurred by the Air Ambulance Service for the VAT on the fuel they purchase, and to publish the outcome of that review within this timescale.

This is a cross-party debate arising from an e-petition that has approximately 150,000 signatures and is supported by many Members up and down the land. Our support for the air ambulances and the e-petition derives from a constituent of my co-sponsor of the motion, the hon. Member for York Central (Hugh Bayley), to whom I give my thanks. The constituent is Mr Ken Sharpe. I also thank the Backbench Business Committee for its support and Mr Speaker for finding time for it to be heard.

On 1 August the eyes of the world will be on London for the Olympics. For months I have been rigorously training my body to be at the peak of physical perfection. But I shall not be lining up against Usain Bolt. I shall be in the sleepy village of Edale, in north Derbyshire, where I, the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) and other hikers will be about to commence a 280-mile hike along the greatest walk in the world, the Pennine way. I shall not be walking for a gold medal. My goal is not gold, but hard cash to support the Great North air ambulance service, which is of course the finest of all the air ambulance organisations. Others may be cheering on Jessica Ennis and sipping the corporate champagne, but this ageing, fattening ex-jockey will be existing on a prime diet of beer and flapjacks as I wearily trudge my way north to Northumberland. Usain Bolt has nothing to fear.

This debate is supported not only by the e-petition, but by a petition run by my local paper, the Hexham Courant. Other newspapers up and down the land have also done a great deal to raise the profile of this debate. It is a cross-party debate, giving the Treasury a fantastic opportunity, over the next 12 months, to consider all the information to do with air ambulances, how they are funded and how VAT applies to their fuel, and to come back with a possible solution after the Budget next year.

What is certain is that the issue derives from Europe, an issue that may have been occupying some of our minds these past few months. When our illustrious forebears took us into Europe—purely, as we all understood, for economic reasons—there was a requirement to sign up to the EU VAT directive, which covers UK VAT legislation. In 1977, the lifeboat service was exempted from the VAT on marine diesel. However, as the air ambulance did not exist at the time, it was not exempted and has subsequently been required to pay VAT on fuel costs. We are in this situation today because of that anomaly. As we have learned since the Budget in March, the Government are keen to clear up VAT anomalies.

We Back Benchers are often asked by Whips to believe many outlandish things—that the European Union always makes sensible decisions or that we will one day win a penalty shoot-out or have a Wimbledon singles winner. Today I will ask the House to accept one basic principle: that there is no real difference between a lifeboat and a helicopter. The lifeboat services are exempt from the VAT exclusion but the air ambulance charities are not—but they are both, I suggest, providers of life-saving emergency services that deserve all our support and all the exemptions made available for their vital work so that they may continue.

My constituency is the second biggest in the country; it has schools with catchment areas almost the size of the M25. It has rough, rural country, often without roads. In the west of Northumberland, our nearest hospital is well over an hour away; sometimes the four-wheeled ambulance struggles to be with us within an hour, if at all.

When I was a thinner and better jockey, I met many other jockeys who had struggled after a fall when they needed to be airlifted to hospital. People frequently have to be supported and airlifted to safety from the A1. This is not just a rural issue, but one that affects cities and towns just as much, when there is a lack of access or urgent transfers are required.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

I absolutely commend my hon. Friend’s argument. Devon Air Ambulance in my constituency is absolutely vital. There are very rural parts of the countryside and I entirely agree that it seems disproportionate that it should have to pay VAT, unlike the lifeboat services.

[Guy Opperman]

I endorse everything that my hon. Friend has said; she is a great supporter of that organisation.

Petrol and Diesel

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd May 2012 Westminster Hall

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

May I propose that my hon. Friend add a fourth suggestion to the list—that we consider a proper price stabilisation mechanism, rather than a fuel duty one? At the moment, the tax can go up, but it never comes down.

[Robert Halfon]

As so often, my hon. Friend has hit the nail on the head. We need a fair fuel stabiliser that looks at prices at the pump, so that when the international oil price goes up tax at the pump goes down. That really would be a fair fuel stabiliser.

Business and the Economy

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Monday 14th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

I join colleagues in welcoming the Queen’s Speech, much of which sets a good legislative reform agenda to help businesses, particularly small ones.

I shall focus on the enterprise and regulatory reform Bill and the banking reform Bill, because they are probably the proposals that will make the most difference. If we speak to any business, particularly a small business, the key points we hear are that they are over-regulated—that includes employment regulation—and that they struggle to access finance. When considering regulation, the Government need to understand what is meant by “enterprise”. That term encompasses not just large enterprises—Sainsbury’s, Tesco and the like—but the very smallest. Businesses with fewer than five employees represent 90% of businesses in this country, so when considering how to make the regulatory burden lighter, it is critical to bear in mind the size of the business trying to cope with this problem. On finance, I am delighted that we are considering a banking reform Bill and dividing retail and investment banking, but in time I would like the Government also to address access to non-banking finance, because inevitably there will always be a limit to what the banks can do.

To focus on regulation, the Government have specified—or rather the Queen did, in her speech—that the review of employment legislation will look at when things go wrong. It will also consider how to ease dispute resolution, no-fault compensation and how to ease the tribunal process. For that complex and adversarial process to be delayed for two years would be a good thing. However, I urge the Government also to review the damages that can be awarded by a tribunal. At the moment, tribunals are not constrained by the ability of the defaulting employer to pay, and in some cases the damages awarded take the business out. I also urge the Government to consider the complexity of the legislation on taking on, paying and training employees, because that is additionally burdensome. They could also look into the problems of the self-employed, many of whom do not benefit from schemes of the sort that are available to help those in employment.

In their initiatives to deal with unnecessary legislation and the red tape challenge, the Government have done a good job. They have identified 600 rules and regulations that they will remove or reform, and are looking at 11 sectors and six themes. I welcome that. If there was one thing they could do better, however, it would be to make it easier for small businesses to contribute to the process. If someone goes on to the website to make a contribution to the red tape challenge, they have to identify the regulation causing the problem, but many small businesses do not know the name of the legislation or regulation; they just know what its consequence is. If we can reform how the Government collect such information, it might make more contributions more successful.

The Government have done good work, but I advise them to add another theme to their red tape challenge: the challenges facing small businesses from cradle to grave—from set-up through taking on that first employer to importing and exporting. There is currently no prospect of that dimension being reviewed. There is a review of company regulation, but, importantly, not all businesses incorporate.

There has been mention of the very smallest—the micro—businesses. I welcome what the Government have done to exclude micros from new regulation, but we really need a root-and-branch review of regulation already impacting on the micros. In future, I urge the Government to consider not simply delaying the introduction of the application of new regulation, but exempting the micros. The argument is that if we start to exempt the micros, we will have two classes of business, but I do not agree. There is always a way to bridge the gap and incentivise businesses to grow. I urge the Government to look at that.

In sum, this is a good Queen’s Speech. It offers a lot for business, but the Government must be mindful of the very smallest of businesses in assessing the impact of what they are doing.

Static Caravans (VAT)

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Thursday 26th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Stuart]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course, many parks have made major investments, some of them—I hate to say it, as one hates to talk about vulnerable businesses—are highly geared, and if there is a chilling impact and eddies of demand, notwithstanding a little additional demand before 1 October, we could subsequently see more than a 30% reduction, which could result in the closure of manufacturers and park businesses that have invested for the longer term in this excellent British tourism industry.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

Tourism is key to my constituency, and Dawlish Warren has a huge number of static caravans. Chilling figures given to me from Peppermint park in Dawlish Warren suggest a loss of 4,300 jobs just from the parks, with the loss of 1,500 jobs in the supply industry, 80 caravan distribution jobs and 1,400 from holiday homes manufacturers. If my maths is right, that is about 8,000 jobs lost.

[Mr Stuart]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point, which I know will have been heard by Ministers.