‘Crucial’ caravan manufacturers must be protected, MPs tell PM
HULL MPS have written to the Prime Minister seeking protection for the caravan industry during the coronavirus pandemic.
Labour’s Karl Turner, Emma Hardy and Dame Diana Johnson said caravan manufacturers, many of which are based in their constituencies, risked missing their key trading season of May to August, which could lead to job losses and closures.
The letter said the industry was “crucial to our regional and national economy” and that, while the closure of caravan parks and dealerships had been necessary, it had had a “devastating impact” on the businesses affected.
And it warned that without help, there would be “irrevocable damage to our constituencies and greater cost to the taxpayer in the long term”.
The MPs called for caravan dealerships to be allowed to reopen when car dealerships do, and
Fears Hull will be left behind when UK begins to ease lockdown restrictions.
for caravan parks to be permitted to open for sales and viewings.
“Livelihoods depend on the survival of these businesses, as does the post-coronavirus economic recovery of our city,” the letter added.
Hull East MP Mr Turner added: “There is a serious risk that places like Hull will yet again be left behind when the UK begins to ease lockdown restrictions.
“Caravan manufacturing, which is so important to our local economy, must not be shut out of the post-coronavirus economic recovery – livelihoods depend on these businesses being given equal treatment.”
The concerns are a fresh blow to the industry, which came under threat earlier in the year when plans to class caravans and motorhomes as cars for the purpose of vehicle duty meant that road tax on them would increase by 705 per cent.
At the time, the National Caravan Council found that 80 per cent of manufacturers were expecting “significantly lower sales in the next 12 months” as a result of the changes.
Hull MPs lobbied the Government to reconsider the move, which was designed to benefit the environment.
The Chancellor announced in the Budget in March that the change would not go ahead, classing the vehicles as vans instead.