Calls to create new hospitality minister win backing of MPs
CALLS for the creation of a dedicated Minister for Hospitality have won support among MPs, following debate in the Houses of Parliament.
A petition urging the Government to establish the ministerial role attracted more than 200,000 signatures, including from Westcountry chef and restaurant owner Mitch Tonks among other leading figures in the industry.
The petition, started by the editor of hospitality publication Chef and Restaurant Magazine, calls on the Government to create a position to ensure the hospitality industry’s concerns can be heard.
Hospitality has been one of the sectors hardest hit by restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, with restaurants, pubs and cafes, among other related businesses, forced to shut their doors to custom or adapt to survive.
The Evening Standard reports that, during the debate on Monday evening at Westminster Hall, the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, Paul Scully, acknowledged the role played by hospitality businesses as part of the “heart of the community”, but argued that “the sector is represented across Government”.
Mr Scully also detailed the financial support the sector has already received, ranging from the furlough scheme to the Eat Out to
Help Out initiative, and said that he and the Prime Minister were “doing all we can within Government to understand and represent the interests of the sector”.
The overwhelming support voiced during the debate for a dedicated minister is not binding on Government, but will put increased pressure on Boris Johnson to more seriously consider the proposal for a new role.
Hospitality is the third-largest employer in the UK, with over three million people employed by the sector and contributing billions of pounds in taxes.
Mitch Tonks, who runs the award-winning Rockfish seafood restaurants in Devon and Dorset and The Seahorse in Dartmouth, recently said he was supporting the petition because the hospitality industry is “in the fabric of who we are”.
Anthony Mangnall, MP for Totnes and South Devon, said more than 320 people from his constituency had signed the petition. He has surveyed tourism and hospitality businesses across his constituency and written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, on the issue.
The responses to his survey found 77% of those asked used the furlough scheme and 76% of businesses accessed the rate relief grant.
He said: “Since the start of the pandemic, I have been working closely with this industry that plays such a vital role in South Devon.
“I led the campaign to lower the rate of VAT to 5% and to then have it extended and I continue to push for further support for the hospitality sector.”
In his letter to the Chancellor, the MP is calling for the 5% VAT reduction to be extended until the end of 2021 and the introduction of a lower level of VAT for the tourism and hospitality sector beyond this year as well as a national campaign to promote ‘staycations’.
Mr Mangnall added: “I am very supportive of this petition and believe a Minister of Hospitality with the existing Minister of Tourism is the perfect complement to be able to drive through the change and support the sector needs.”
Responding to the petition, the Government said: “The sector is extremely broad, ranging from the arts and entertainment to pubs, cafes and restaurants, and as such responsibility for the sector as a whole is shared by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.”