Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the overnight visitor levy on the number of tourism jobs in (a) the UK and (b) the Midlands.

The impacts of the overnight visitor levy will be determined by local decisions. It will be up to Mayors and local leaders to decide whether to implement a levy, subject to a local consultation on specific proposals.

Visitor levies are common in Europe and the rest of the world. All other G7 countries already have some form of tourism or overnight accommodation levy in place.

Evidence from other countries suggests that modest levies have a limited impact on visitor numbers, jobs, GDP, and tourism competitiveness.