Hotels (Hansard, 19 December 1973)

§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyne
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his latest estimate of the bed-occupancy rate in hotels in the Greater London area; and what was the figure for the corresponding month in the last year before the inauguration of the Hotel Development Incentives Scheme.

§ Mr. Anthony Grant,
pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 17th December 1973; Vol. 866, c. 251–2]. gave the following information
The latest available figures published by the English Tourist Board indicate that the bed occupancy rate in London hotels in August 1973 was 65 per cent. Comparable figures for the bed occupancy rate before the inception of the Hotel Development Incentives Scheme are not available.

§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyne
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to exercise his powers under the Industry Act to provide financial assistance to the hotel industry to enable it to overcome the problems of over-capacity resulting from the Hotel Development Incentives Scheme.

§ Mr. Anthony Grant,
pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 17th December 1973; Vol. 866, c. 251–2], gave the following information
I have no plans to provide assistance to hotels under the Industry Act.

§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyne
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will specify the rules governing repayment of grant paid under the Hotel Development Incentives Scheme in circumstances where a recipient hotel is subsequently sold or placed in liquidation;
(2) whether he will make the repayment of sums provided, under the Hotel Development Incentives Scheme, to the Piccadilly Estates Hotel Company for hotels which have subsequently been closed a condition of further financial assistance to that company from public funds; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Anthony Grant,
pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 17th December 331W 1973, Vol. 866, c. 251–2] gave the following information
The tourist boards have power under Section 12(2) of the Development of Tourism Act 1969 to require repayment of a grant in specified circumstances, subject to any directions under Section 19 of the Act. The relevant extracts from the directions given to the English Tourist Board are as follows:
Directions dated 1st December 1969 . . in making any grant the English Tourist Board shall impose the following conditions: 1. (1) A condition that the grant shall, as to the whole thereof or, if the English Tourist Board so determine, as to such part thereof as may be determined by it, become repayable to the English Tourist Board by the person receiving the grant if during the relevant period any of the following events occurs:

(a) the hotel ceases to satisfy the requirements of Section 7(2) of the Act;

(b) the person receiving the grant disposes of an interest in the hotel without the prior consent in writing of the Tourist Board.

Directions dated 29th February 1972 1. The Directions given by the Board of Trade under the said Section 19(2)(c) on 1st December 1969 shall have effect as if in paragraph 1(1)(b) the word 'prior' was omitted. 2. The English Tourist Board shall not give its consent, whether before or after the disposal of the interest in the hotel, unless the person to whom the interest is disposed of enters into a legally binding obligation under which he undertakes to be subject to the same conditions as those on which the grant was made. 3. The Tourist Board may, in a case in which a condition was imposed by virtue of paragraph 1(1X6) of the said Directions before the date of these Directions, consent to the disposal of an interest in an hotel in circumstances in which the Board could have consented if these Directions had been in force at the time the grant was made.
Directions dated 17th August 1972 (1) Paragraph 2 of the Directions under the said Section 19(2)(c) dated 29th February 1972 shall not apply in a case where the interest disposed of by the grantee is not the whole of his interest in the hotel and the interest retained is such that he could have been paid a grant by virtue of Section 10(1)(b) of the said Act if the interest retained had subsisted at the relevant time as defined in that section.