Mayors to be given power to impose tourist taxMayors will decide the percentage and how to invest the revenue raised.Angela Rayner will meet with mayors in No 10 North before further details of the policy are announced (Jack Taylor/PA)PA WireNina Lloyd2 minutes ago
Plans to give England’s mayors the power to introduce a tourist tax will be set out on Thursday.
The levy will be decided by local leaders and charged as a percentage of the cost of accommodation to overnight visitors, rather than a flat fee, which the Government argues will protect budget holidays.
Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner will meet with mayors in No 10 North before further details of the policy are announced on Thursday.
It is understood the levy would have no upper limit, though Government sources said mayors were unlikely to make it too costly, with most indicating it would be a few per cent.
In London, officials are yet to make a decision on how the scheme will work, but it is understood the tax will not amount to more than 5% of the cost of accommodation.
Plans for the tax were first announced under Sir Keir Starmer following similar schemes introduced by the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham reiterated his commitment to the policy in July as part of his wider devolution agenda, and the Government expects mayors to be able to impose the levy by the end of the Parliament.
Charges of a similar nature already exist across Europe, with the revenue used to fund local services. Local leaders would decide how to invest the money raised from the levy.
But groups representing the tourism trade have warned about the impact of the tax and called for consistency in how it operates across different regions.
UK Hospitality has meanwhile written to the Prime Minister urging him to consider plans for a “holiday bonus” instead, as households continue to struggle with the cost of living.
Allen Simpson, chief executive of the trade body, warned that a tourism tax introduced in Edinburgh in July was “already having damaging effects” and said jobs could be at risk in communities that rely on tourism and hospitality.
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“I would say to those people in these communities that their jobs are now at risk,” Mr Simpson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“It will be the case that you’ll have holiday parks which can’t open in the shoulder seasons and of course people who go on holiday will just have that little bit less money in their pocket.”
Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor, said: “An unlimited tourist tax would be hugely limiting for the chances of the young people who might otherwise be employed in tourism and hospitality.
“Propping up dodgy town hall finances on the back of even higher youth unemployment would be utterly wrong.”
A Government source said: “We have always been clear that while central government will set the framework for this power, it will be up to local leaders and local voters to decide what is right for their area.”
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