Tobias Ellwood
Main Page: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)Department Debates - View all Tobias Ellwood's debates with the Leader of the House
(12 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Lansley
I remind the hon. Gentleman of the exchange that I had with the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green). One must take into account the fact that people are in work and are receiving in-work benefits. Those benefits will not necessarily rise by inflation but by 1%. The pay of many people in work is not rising or is rising by a very small amount indeed, but one must also take into account that in recognition of that and because we want those who are in work to feel that work really pays and that the more hours they work, the more benefit they get, this Government are reducing the tax on the lowest paid. The personal tax allowance is going up to £9,440. That will make a significant difference to the tax bill of lower paid workers.
Mr Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East) (Con)
From his visits to my constituency, my right hon. Friend will be aware what a wonderful tourism destination Bournemouth is. Tourism is the biggest industry in Bournemouth. May we have a debate or a statement on proposals allowing a change of use of hotels, whereby they would be converted into flats, without the approval of the town hall? I hope my right hon. Friend would agree that such a policy would be devastating for tourism destinations such as Bournemouth.
Mr Lansley
My hon. Friend is right about the attractions of Bournemouth. I can remember being in Bournemouth on a number of occasions and having the benefit of the sun on our face and a beautiful bay in front of us to enjoy while we were there. The simple fact of the large number of hotel bedrooms in Bournemouth makes an enormous difference to its attractiveness to conferences, for example. I will talk to my ministerial colleagues and ask them to respond to my hon. Friend about the change of use regulations. Equally, in order to support economic growth, we should create as flexible a structure as we can for people who own property to allow them to develop that property and exploit it.