The trade body said it was “very encouraging” not to see any tourist tax powers included in the white paper that will, if ratified, transfer regional authorities powers and funding to shape future growth in their areas.
UKH chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “Hospitality is at the heart of our local communities and strengthening both local and regional government to improve services is positive.
“Better planning and licensing processes and improved transport systems in those areas will help businesses, tourism, customers and staff alike.
“The white paper has big ambitions and hospitality can be at the heart of delivering those ambitions through high street renewal, if it supported to do so.
Gov has listened
“The biggest sigh of relief for hospitality businesses will be what was not included in the white paper – the absence of any new powers for local authorities to introduce a tourist tax.
“That is very encouraging and a sign that the Government has listened to our concerns that such a tax would further burden struggling businesses and severely dent our competitiveness on the world stage.
“We look forward to working with the Government on its plan and how we can work together to enhance how hospitality can serve Britain in our local communities.”
The devolution white paper, proposal for which were published on Monday 16 December 2024, will see mayors will get unprecedented powers to “drive growth, turbocharge housebuilding and improve transport in a transformative ‘devolution revolution’”.
It sets out to allow England’s regions centre stage in the government’s Plan for Change missions to grow the economy, deliver the 1.5m homes and infrastructure we need and boost opportunity across the country.
Tools and trust
Mayors in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region and the north-east will be the first to receive new integrated funding settlements, covering housing, regeneration, local growth, transport, skills, retrofit and employment support.
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner said: “Devolution is about delivering fundamental change at every level. It’s about giving local leaders the tools – and the trust – they need to forge their areas’ futures.
“It’s about raising living standards, improving public services and building the homes we so desperately need – all key aspects of our Plan for Change. It cuts across every aspect of government.
“We have an economy that hoards potential and a politics that hoards power. So our devolution revolution will deliver the greatest transfer of power from Whitehall to our communities in a generation, empowering those communities to realise their potential. And nobody is more excited about it than I am.”
The white paper will give mayors power over:
- Planning and housing, putting our regions at the centre of the drive to build 1.5m homes in this parliament
- Transport, to drive a locally integrated transport network that truly works for their communities and supports local economic growth, with improved train services and better travel to and from rail stations, by bus, tram and active travel
- Skills and employment support to so everyone has the opportunities they deserve and can access good jobs
- Local Growth Plans to accelerate regional growth and productivity, setting a long-term vision for the next decade, and a roadmap for how this will be achieved – driving the Ggovernment’s central mission of economic growth and putting more money in people’s pockets
- Too often, Mayors’ hands are tied by Whitehall – even when it comes to allocating their own budgets. The government will create a clear and transparent route for all Mayoral Combined Authorities to receive an Integrated Settlement, so they can move resources between projects in line with local need.
