Hospitality Industry Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Lord Woodley
Main Page: Lord Woodley (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Woodley's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Hospitality Industry
Lord Woodley Excerpts(1 year, 9 months ago)
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Lord Callanan (Con)
My noble friend makes an important point. We need to have a fair and balanced immigration policy, treating all parts of the world equally.
Lord Woodley (Lab)
My Lords, I declare an interest, in that many thousands of workers in the hospitality industry are members of my union, Unite. As the Minister knows, new figures show that one in seven jobs in this sector are now completely unfilled. It is impeding businesses dramatically, to the tune of 16% of their revenues, and reducing productivity and potential profits—profits are falling by the wayside. Does the Minister therefore support the industry’s call to lower visa requirements, as other noble Lords have mentioned before, to help address the chronic staff shortages, reduce VAT to 10% for 12 months, as has been mentioned, and continue the energy support for at least the next 12 months.
Lord Callanan (Con)
I know that the Home Office keeps all visa policies under review. If the noble Lord will forgive me, I will leave the setting of VAT to the Chancellor, but I am sure he has heard the call that the noble Lord has made.