A ‘tourism tax’ targeting overnight visitors to the Universal theme park and resort near Bedford would be “the absolute last thing” the Borough Council needs to impose, a meeting heard.
Guests and tourists need to be encouraged to come into the town, rather than seek alternative accommodation in nearby Milton Keynes or Central Bedfordshire, according to a local councillor.
Anyone opting to stay in Bedford could benefit from the “excellent public transport” locally, Bedford Borough Council’s Universal project overview and scrutiny committee was told.
Read: Bedford Borough Council plans tourism strategy to capitalise on Universal’s £50bn economic impact
The Labour government has, through the Overnight Visitor Levy Bill, looked to grant mayoral authorities the power to raise extra charges on overnight stays, dubbed ‘a tourism tax’.
Labour Kempston West councillor James Valentine said at the committee’s inaugural meeting: “I believe the council is about to introduce a tax on tourists.
“I wondered how that would have an impact regarding the Universal development and the huge increase in visitors we’re going to have.
“It’s being promoted by government, and certainly it was mentioned in a communication from a minister recently in relation to the broader subject of devolution, which is being talked about.
“The minister concerned was talking it up. I was wondering whether you have any knowledge or ideas around that?”
Devolution
The local authority’s interim strategic director for environment John Molyneux replied: “I think it’s a broader point you make around devolution.
“If we think of our neighbours in a combined authority in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, I think they’re going down that line you’re suggesting. I think that’s a policy principle of the government at this time.
“Locally, however, we’re not in those conversations yet, if indeed we will be in the future. But clearly that could well be linked to the (future) overall governance arrangements in Bedfordshire.”
Conservative Bromham councillor Dylan Simmons warned: “A tax on tourism is the absolute last thing this project needs.
“We want to be bringing these guests into the borough, not pushing them into Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes. They can come into Bedford and commute on our excellent public transport.
“One tax where there is scope for the borough to benefit is through the business rates this project and the other developments around it could generate.
“The government has a new policy of reviewing business rates and flattening them out across the country, which then means all our benefits get dispersed to everywhere else.”
By Euan Duncan
Local Democracy Reporter
