It has also been confirmed the possibility of a tourist tax is in ‘the remit of the Chancellor’, Rachel Reeves, who will unveil her Budget on Wednesday
Giving Sir Sadiq Khan and other mayors across the country extra powers marks the “biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall” in decades, a minister has said. Miatta Fahnbulleh said giving the Mayor of London a say over how London’s pubs, bars and nightclubs are run could help them to “thrive”.
If MPs back the move, it will become part of a package of town hall reforms in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The proposed new law would give mayors the power to set the strategy for running “key” road routes in their areas and to set up new development corporations in an effort to support building work and regeneration plans.
Conservative shadow minister Paul Holmes accused ministers of “introducing complexity at a moment when the public want simplicity, clear lines of responsibility – not an ever-changing maze of institutions”. However, devolution minister Ms Fahnbulleh told the Commons: “This Bill will secure the biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall to our regions and communities in a generation.
“At its heart is the principle that if we take power out of Westminster and Whitehall, and place it in the hands of local leaders and communities who know their patch, we can unlock the economic potential of places, we can revive communities that have been held back for too long, and deliver for people in the places where they live, raise a family and work.
“We will provide mayors and their strategic authorities with new powers over planning, housing, transport and regeneration so they can get Britain building and unleash the economic potential of their areas.”
Since it was first tabled, the Government has launched a bid to expand the Bill’s scope in London, so the capital’s mayor would become a “statutory consultee” for licensing applications and would be able to weigh in to decisions “of strategic importance”.
Ms Fahnbulleh told MPs: “I am sure that members across the House agree with me that London’s pubs, its restaurants, are the beating hearts of our cultural life. They contribute to our capital’s world-class status and to the growth of our economy, yet for too long hospitality businesses have been held back by a licensing regime which lacks proportionality, consistency and transparency.
“This is why we are bringing forward amendments to pilot a new licensing regime in London which will give hospitality businesses greater confidence and create the conditions for London’s night-time economy to thrive.
“These amendments will give the Mayor of London the power to publish a strategic licensing power for hospitality venues within London’s night-time economy which licensing authorities will have a duty to have regard to when carrying out their licensing functions.”
New calls for tourist taxes
Some MPs urged the minister to expand mayors’ powers further. Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said some authorities in her Somerset city were seeking powers to bring in a “modest visitor levy”.
She asked the minister: “Does she agree that a visitor levy on overnight stays would generate a new ringfenced revenue stream for the hospitality sector and actually be very beneficial for it?” Ms Fahnbulleh replied: “Mayors across the country have been strong advocates for a visitor levy.”
She added that tourist taxes were in “the remit of the Chancellor”, Rachel Reeves, who will unveil her Budget on Wednesday. Florence Eshalomi, the Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee chairwoman, also backed calls for a tourist tax.
“We acknowledge that visitor levies have pros and cons,” the Labour MP for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green said. She added: “Our committee has heard that where it does work, it would be helpful as a new form of fundraising at a regional level.”
Mr Holmes said: “This Bill, far from creating clarity, piles new combined authorities, new mayoralties and new boards on top of already overlapping local councils. The Government is introducing complexity at a moment when the public want simplicity, clear lines of responsibility – not an ever-changing maze of institutions.”
The shadow housing minister added that “a resident should be able to know without needing a flowchart who is responsible for transport, planning, regeneration or housing”. He supported proposals by Conservative MPs Joe Robertson and Dame Caroline Dinenage to bring ferries into the mayors’ remit.
The MPs, for Isle of Wight East and Gosport, either side of The Solent, have suggested mayors should be able to set regulations about the operation, safety, accessibility, affordability and reliability of boats. Mr Holmes said their new clauses would bring in “true devolution” and added he did not know why the Government was “resisting” their proposals.
“In other areas, they have allowed mayors to have regulatory responsibility for many areas across the whole of the United Kingdom, not only geographically, but in terms of the areas that the mayor is responsible for – and the Isle of Wight is a special case,” the shadow minister added.
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