Tourism: Overnight Visitor Levy Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Greg Smith
Main Page: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)Department Debates - View all Greg Smith's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Tourism: Overnight Visitor Levy
Greg Smith Excerpts(3Â weeks, 3Â days ago)
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Jim McMahon
My hon. Friend raises a fair point, and one that I will take away.
Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)
I am sure that many of my constituents considering a UK break will look to Cambridgeshire, where the always fiscally sound Conservative mayor Paul Bristow has made it clear that now is not the time for such a tax. However, hospitality businesses across the rest of the country will be frightened by this measure—we already have two pubs closing a day, and businesses are struggling to get by under this Government’s tax burden. How low does tourism in this country have to dip, or how many businesses have to go bust, before the Treasury tells this Minister that this tourist levy must go?
Jim McMahon
In the spirit of devolution, if a mayor believes that not introducing a visitor levy is the right decision for their area, the Government will support that. To be clear, though, the last Conservative Government was not a good period for our pubs and hospitality businesses—pubs in our communities, town centres and city centres closed at a rate of knots. We are trying to say that that decline is not inevitable, and that Government working in partnership with our regions and councils can begin to turn that around.