HC Deb 16 July 2001 vol 372 cc6-8
5. Tony Baldry (Banbury)

What assessment she has made of the impact of foot and mouth disease on the number of overseas visitors to Britain. [2424]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Dr. Kim Howells)

The number of overseas visits to the United Kingdom was estimated to have fallen by 6 per cent. in the three months from March to May 2001 compared with the same period last year. My predecessor as Minister had planned to address a loss of this nature when awarding the British Tourist Authority an extra £14.2 million this year. Its strategy is to stimulate the recovery of inbound tourism, and I am confident the benefits of this initiative are now emerging.

Tony Baldry

I thank the Minister for that answer, but I am not sure that he appreciates that another Department is seeking to claim back 17.5 per cent. in supposed VAT payments out of the £14.2 million that his Department has made available to the British Tourist Authority. That seems somewhat bizarre.

Will the Minister take this opportunity to make two announcements? First, will he confirm that the British Tourist Authority will receive the full £14.2 million? That is what it believed it would receive and it seems only fair that it should receive it. Secondly, for those of us who represent English constituencies, there is some concern that the English Tourism Council does not have a marketing function. Will the Minister give an undertaking that it can have such a function and will receive a fair share of the benefit of that £14.2 million?

Dr. Howells

First, I was surprised to hear that VAT payments had not been factored in. It was certainly a miscalculation on the part of the British Tourist Authority, and we are looking closely at that. Secondly, there is no question but that foot and mouth disease has severely tested present marketing arrangements. Marketing is the responsibility of regional tourist boards and, latterly, regional development agencies. We will be working very hard with them and the English Tourism Council to ensure that there are no inadequacies or slippages in the marketing of English regions in this country.

Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley)

Would my hon. Friend consider the introduction of grants to local authorities where tourism has been affected by foot and mouth? In that way, we would know that the money was going to constituencies that have been directly affected.

Dr. Howells

We are working closely with local authorities to ensure that deferments of rates, for example, do not become a burden that they cannot stand. I very much hope that the considerable packages that we have made available will see local authorities and indirectly, businesses through what promises for some to be a very hard winter.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth (East Surrey)

I welcome the new Minister for tourism to the Front Bench. He has got off to a slightly ropy start. It was not the British Tourist Authority that put out press releases about £14.2 million, but his Department—without any reference to VAT.

Does the Minister understand why the insensitive and ill-timed insults—talk of slave wage rates and rip-offs—that he levelled at the tourism industry recently have caused such outrage? With tourism facing a £5 billion shortfall in revenue this year, investment falling and thousands of jobs at risk, do not people in the tourism industry have a right to expect some support from the Minister responsible? Will he therefore take this opportunity to redeem something of his reputation and apologise to the industry for his remarks?

Dr. Howells

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for acknowledging that I have some reputation left. The article to which he referred—he clearly has not read it; he has never heard of the thing—appeared in Caterer and Hotelkeeper. His comments are clearly driven by the same geniuses who proposed the last Conservative manifesto.

The editor of the publication, David Harris, said that the article makes clear his"— that is, my— commitment to the tourist industry, expressing views held by many when he says the tourist industry must raise its game. FMD has been a body blow, but we will regain our markets by competitive pricing and with a well motivated and trained workforce which delivers further improvements in quality. That is precisely what I believe. I do not think that the British tourist industry will survive on the basis of slave wages. I note that Conservatives always oppose minimum wages, and will always do so because they think that they can run the economy on the cheap. That is why people do not trust them, why they are down to the rump facing us, and why they will remain that rump until they change their views.