Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Conclusion 5
Second Report - Promoting Britain abroad
Published 24 Oct 2022
Paragraph 37
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Promoting Britain abroad All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Government’s decision to withdraw from the VAT Retail Export Scheme has made Britain less appealing to tourists while increasing the appeal of our European competitors. It has been a spectacular own goal, signalling that the Government does not, despite its protestations to the contrary, recognise the significance of retail to the inbound tourism sector. For a short while, it appeared to have seen sense, committing once again to providing tax-free shopping for inbound visitors. To then reverse this decision, less than a month later with no new financial analysis provided, only serves to demonstrate the paucity of thought associated with these policy changes. By the Treasury’s own estimation, the scheme could at the very least have been cost neutral. We agree with the industry that a broader analysis of the indirect benefits of the scheme would demonstrate that its cost would be far outweighed by the revenue it would generate and the increased numbers of tourists coming to the UK.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Second Report - Promoting Britain abroad (HC 156), paragraph 37, 24 October 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 2 February 2023 (deadline 11 January 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts the importance of tourism and the Committee's concerns in places, but does not accept several of the main recommendations, including a creative industries export office, a group ID card for under 18s, a recovery visa and a larger VisitBritain marketing budget.
- On a creative industries export office, the government "does not see a case" for one, citing existing export support. It will set out its ambition for the creative sector to 2030 in the Creative Industries Sector Vision, to be published "in early 2023".
- On VisitBritain's Business Events Growth Programme, the government "does not presently intend to expand" it, but "will continue to evaluate the case for expanding this as part of future DCMS budgetary planning". It does not intend to increase VisitBritain's marketing budget "at present".
- On entry rules, there are "no plans to change" the approach to under 18s in organised groups, though the government "will review mitigations through the Inter-Ministerial Group". It does not intend to publish a visa review outcome within 12 months, and does not intend to introduce a "recovery visa".
- On the de Bois recommendations, a Destination Development Partnership pilot in the North East will receive "£2.25 million across three years". If it is "successful", this will inform future spending review bids, with the "aim" to then roll out the model across England.