Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any recent discussions she has had with the UK Treasury on the benefits of a reduction in the level of VAT for the hospitality sector in the North.
Minister for the Economy: Our hospitality businesses are vital not only to our wider economy but also to our communities. I am committed to the development of a thriving hospitality sector and I continue to engage with its representatives. Along with the Finance Minister, I met with representatives from Hospitality Ulster and the Food to Go Association earlier this year, to discuss their proposals for a reduced VAT pilot scheme in the North.
Following that meeting, we wrote jointly to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 17 February, to seek a meeting with him, alongside local hospitality sector bodies, to discuss the potential for a VAT reduction pilot scheme. It is disappointing that to date, no response has been received from Treasury to that letter.
I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of a temporary VAT cut on some family expenses this summer. However, this short-term intervention does not address the longstanding VAT disparity faced by our broader local hospitality industry compared to the south.
ENDS
Your MLA 