Forest of Dean councillors propose tourism levy to boost finances

Forest of Dean District councillors want a tourism tax to mitigate 13 years of "chronic underfunding" of local authorities

A levy on tourism in the Forest of Dean could be something civic chiefs consider to plug the "chronic underfunding" of public services.

Currently in England neither the government or local councils have the power to introduce a tourism tax.

But councils such as Manchester and Liverpool have introduced a form of tourism levy via a legal workaround.

The issue was considered by the West Dean Parish Council at their meeting on 30 August.

Parish councillors agreed to undertake further research into the issue and write up a report which will detail the pros and cons of the introduction of such a levy.

These proposals were brought up at the Forest of Dean District Council meeting on 19 October, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Leader Mark Topping says a tourism tax could be something "worth looking into" after 13 years of "chronic underfunding" of local authorities by central government.

The idea has been met with scorn by Conservative councillors, with councillor Alan Preest saying the idea is "completely ludicrous".

"Our tourism providers should be very well briefed on this," said Mr Preest.

Tourism levy

New legislation would be needed to allow councils to implement a tourist tax, but the government said in September that it has no plans to do this.

Manchester and Liverpool city councils, among others, have introduced an accommodation business improvement district (BID) levy.

In Manchester's case, the BID levy is payable by hotels and serviced apartments with a rateable value of £75,000 or more.

Like a tourist tax, the BID levy amount for individual properties is based on occupancy.

In Manchester, it is known as the "city visitor charge" and participating businesses are encouraged to itemise it on guests' bills.

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