The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism, a collection of more than 80 MPs from across the political divide, have written to the chancellor, urging him to provide decisive financial support to protect sector businesses crucial to communities around the UK.
In the letter, they say that the UK’s tourism and hospitality businesses have been devastated by the Covid crisis, with £72bn wiped off the revenue of the hospitality sector. They say that loss of revenue has hit UK GDP by two percentage points.
The MPs are asking Rishi Sunak to extend the VAT cut to 5% on food and soft drinks for another 12 months and for this to be extended to the broader hospitality industry, including alcoholic drinks sold on-premise, the leisure sector and weddings.
They also want to see a further 100% holiday on business rates for all sector businesses across the UK, covering the next financial year.
An extension to the furlough scheme, replacement of the Job Retention Bonus and provision of improved loan repayment terms and HMRC tax deferrals to give businesses more breathing room to recover are also on their Budget wishlist.
Co-vice chair of the APPG Sally-Ann Hart said: “Our hospitality and tourism sectors are some of the best in the world. They are a fantastic social as well as economic asset and we should be immensely proud of them. They have been absolutely devastated by Covid.
“Despite unprecedented financial support from government, unfortunately many businesses have been lost and they have taken hundreds of thousands of jobs with them. These are businesses that are critical to communities around the country. They are focal points for social lives and drive inward investment. Ongoing government support through to the end of the pandemic and through the recovery phase is critical to rebuilding this industry and creating jobs.”
Alison Thewliss, also co-vice chair, added: “Financial support at the Budget is now a must. The chancellor needs to act positively and extend the VAT cut and the rates holiday to our fantastic hospitality and tourism sector which can help to regrow our battered economies. Support must also be extended to workers in the hospitality and tourism sectors for the entire period that restrictions are in place.’’
Find out what UK Hospitality boss Kate Nicholls believes needs to be done to ensure the survival of the sector in the latest EG Future of Real Estate podcast
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