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26
Mar
Ripon MP warns tourist tax would ‘clobber’ businesses
Mayor David Skaith’s proposed tourist tax would “clobber” businesses, according to Skipton and Ripon MP Sir Julian Smith.
Mr Skaith, the Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, wants to charge £2 per person, per night for overnight stays.
He says the levy, widely known as a tourist tax, could generate £52 million a year and “be a total game-changer for our region”.
But Conservative Sir Julian said he agreed with the trade body UKHospitality’s description of it as “the wrong policy at the worst time” during a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament yesterday (March 25).
One of my worries is that entrepreneurs in the tourist industry in North Yorkshire and elsewhere are on their knees due to post-covid issues, National Insurance, rates and a whole range of factors.
Rachael Maskell, Labour and Co-operative MP for York Central, said she supported the levy and proposed setting the rate at the price of a cup of coffee:
Whether it is about tidying our streets, putting infrastructure in place, cleaning our city or making additional provisions, the pressure of tourism on our public services is being paid for by local residents. There is an equation where local residents feel that they pay into the system and tourism gains, but that tourists are not making their contribution.
But Sir Julian replied:
“The mayor is proposing this tax, which will clobber my constituents’ businesses in North Yorkshire. It may be a benefit for York, but it will cause a massive problem for rural North Yorkshire.”
Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough said Liberals supported handing down powers. He added:
I would therefore support giving combined authorities the powers to introduce an overnight visitor levy — but, in this economic climate, that does not mean that we necessarily should.
Let us be clear: hamstringing regional mayors with inadequate funding and then handing them the power to tax is not devolution—it is simply passing the buck.
The government is analysing the feedback of its 12-week visitor levy consultation, which ended on February 18, before deciding what to do next.
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