Inside Track by John Harrington
John Penrose must be finding that life as a junior minister has its, er, limitations. The tourism and heritage minister was given the job of devising a strategy to boost the UK’s tourism industry, and, to be fair to him, his new report does contain some sensible plans to help the sector.
Trade chiefs will be eager to scrutinise the details. But who could argue, on principle, the merits of an industry-led task force to cut red tape, support for improving the professionalism of staff, or examining plans to shift the May Bank Holiday to October to extend the summer season?
However, dig a little deeper, and the proposals expose the limitations of a politician on the lower rungs of the ladder. The strategy is notable as much for what it leaves out as what it includes.
Take VAT. Anyone hoping that Government is open to the argument that it should be cut for tourism businesses will have been sorely disappointed. Penrose told journalists not to expect any movement until public finances are back on track.
The reason? To quote the tourism strategy: "The financial position we inherited means we must give priority to maintaining our fiscal base." “Come back in about three years time,” Penrose said.
We all know that the VAT battle isn’t going to be won quickly, but junior ministers have even less scope than usual when public finances are as tight as the proverbial drum.
Sources suggests that Penrose, is privately sympathetic to the VAT-cut calls, and its persuasive argument that urgent action is needed to make the UK cheaper and therefore more competitive to rival tourist destinations (such as France).
As the British Hospitality Association (BHA) points out, the UK ranks an embarrassing 133rd out of 133 countries in terms of price competitiveness for travel and tourism. Not a nice thought if tourism is your political patch.
There was more buck-passing when Prenrose was pressed by journalists last Thursday on why the tourism strategy made no mention of plans to bring the clocks forward in the summer (it was widely reported that it would do so). This was an issue for the business department, was the minister’s reply.
He did admit that the proposal was “in, then out, then in, then out” of the tourism strategy, which suggests a lack of Government backbone when the measure was leaked to the Sunday Telegraph as a certainty for the strategy.
Not surprisingly, his promise to chop away at red tape, with a, God help us, task force received a lukewarm response. As BHA chief executive Ufi Ibrahim put it: “We already have many task forces. What s most needed is a top level governmental task force in Whitehall, led by the prime minister, to bring about his stated vision of making tourism one of the fundamental pillars of the UK economy.”
Penrose’s influence in the industry (and Government) was reduced just months after his appointment when the alcohol licensing remit was officially handed from DCMS to the Home Office. As if to signify his reduced status, in January he stressed the need to keep other Government departments on-side over plans to reduce red tape around live music licensing. A small group of MPs is even agitating to transfer departmental responsibility for tourism elsewhere.
Ten 10 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for responsibility for tourism to be handed to Vince Cable’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.
So, what was the overall verdict? The Federation of Small Businesses says the strategy is merely “tinkering around the edges” because of its failure to offer firm financial help to the sector. At a time when licensing regulations are set to get tougher, costs are rising and customers may be set to hunker down as public sector job cuts blow a chill wind over customer confidence, an imaginative, radical tourism strategy would have been very welcome indeed. What we got instead was limited in the extreme.
