Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Heritage and Tourism Sector

Monday 27 April 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 3 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Maria Eagle questioned the Minister about extending business support to those with a rateable value over 51,000 and to self-employed and micro-businesses in the tourism sector.
  • Robbie Moore inquired about additional support for the heritage railway sector under social distancing restrictions.
  • Alex Sobel asked if the Minister discussed measures at the G20 meeting and what consideration has been made for introducing them.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Maria Eagle Lab Liverpool Walton
Economy Business & Trade
Context

The Liverpool visitor economy brought in £3.3 billion last year, supporting numerous businesses and jobs.

Question

Will he undertake to push the Chancellor to extend further the business support he announced to those with a rateable value over £51,000 and to extend help to the self-employed and micro-businesses in the sector?

Answer from Nigel Huddleston (Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The hon. Lady is absolutely right about the enormous economic value of the tourism industry— not only in her area, but right across the country. I assure her that we are in regular conversations and dialogue with not only the industry but the Treasury, and those discussions will continue.

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Q2 Robbie Moore Con Keighley
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The Keighley and Worth Valley railway is a major tourist attraction in Yorkshire with over 7 million visitors in the last 50 years.

Question

With social distancing restrictions unlikely to be relaxed for a significant time, will the Minister outline what additional support he will consider providing to the heritage railway sector?

Answer from Nigel Huddleston (Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The importance of the heritage rail sector was recognised last year when the National Lottery Heritage Fund gave a grant of nearly £800,000 to bring the Keighley and Worth Valley railway back into service for the first time in 25 years. My hon. Friend may wish to apply to the £50 million emergency programme launched by the heritage fund to support the heritage sector through the covid-19 pandemic. He may also want to approach Historic England, which has announced an additional £2 million programme of grants for smaller specialist organisations and projects.

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Q3 Alex Sobel Labour (Co-op) Leeds West
Business & Trade
Context

The UK tourism sector is greatly exposed to the lockdown and uncertainty about the summer season.

Question

Did the Minister discuss those measures at the G20 meeting? What consideration has he made on introducing them?

Answer from Nigel Huddleston (Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

I congratulate the hon. Member on his first virtual appearance from the Opposition Front Bench. He raises many important issues. We had a constructive conversation with the G20 tourism Ministers, primarily around the recovery programme. We are continuing the dialogue, both domestically and internationally, on all those issues. Of course, the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector has benefited from additional measures including business rate relief, and we will continue the dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure that the sector is looked after.

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