This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Create a Minister for Hospitality in the UK Government
The UK hospitality industry. Responsible for around 3m jobs, generating £130bn in activity, resulting in £38bn in taxation. Yet, unlike the Arts or Sports, we do not have a dedicated Minister.
We are asking that a Minister for Hospitality be created for the current, and successive governments.
More details
A dedicated Minister would liaise with industry representatives. We believe such a Minister would have been beneficial to Government & Industry during the pandemic.
As the UK seeks to encourage investment & tourism back to the UK in coming years, the vision that UK hospitality industry portrays of the UK is excellence, innovation, inspiration.
We need a Minister who can listen to concerns on taxation & legislation and bring forward suggestions to the chancellor and policy makers on our behalf.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
Parliament debated this topic
This topic was debated on 11 January 2021
Government responded
This response was given on 3 November 2020
Responsibility for the hospitality sector is shared by Ministers in the Departments for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, and Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
Read the response in full
The Government recognises the importance of the UK’s hospitality sector, which plays a vital role in supporting local communities up and down the country and the UK economy. The sector is extremely broad, ranging from the arts and entertainment to pubs, cafes and restaurants, and as such responsibility for the sector as a whole is shared by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
Ministers in both Departments have worked closely with business leaders and representative bodies from across the sector throughout the pandemic to ensure that the interests of the hospitality businesses and their employees are fully represented within Government. Hospitality sector business leaders were consulted on the Government’s Covid-Secure Guidance for businesses, and Ministerial engagement with the sector has helped to shape the Government’s extensive package of business support measures, which has included the job retention scheme, reduced VAT, rates relief, the commercial rent moratorium, hospitality grants, loan support schemes, the self-employed income support scheme, regulatory easements to support outdoor hospitality and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Related activity
Petitions Committee Chair presses the Prime Minister on support for the hospitality sector
On Wednesday 13 January, Petitions Committee Chair Catherine McKinnell pressed the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the need for further support for the hospitality sector.
Taking part in a session of the Liaison Committee, Mrs McKinnell urged the Prime Minister to meet with the creators of this petition to discuss their call for the Government to appoint a Minister for hospitality.
Watch the session: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/e4b7e3bf-3021-41e4-863c-bdb264ef966e
Read the transcript: https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/1483/default/
What is the Liaison Committee?
The Liaison Committee is made up of the Chairs of the House of Commons select committees. It considers the overall work of all select committees, promotes effective scrutiny of Government, and chooses committee reports for debates. It questions the Prime Minister about policy, usually three times a year.
Find out more about the Liaison Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/103/liaison-committee-commons/
Petitions Committee Chair writes to the Prime Minister urging engagement with the hospitality sector
Chair of the Petitions Committee, Catherine McKinnell MP, has written to the Prime Minister urging him to engage with the hospitality sector after raising the issue at the latest session of the Liaison Committee.
Read the letter: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/4374/documents/44342/default/
Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/138668/chair-urges-the-prime-minister-to-engage-with-the-hospitality-sector/
This follows the recent debate on this petition in which many MPs spoke in favour of the ask of the petition that the Government appoint a Minister for Hospitality.
Watch the debate: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/65385c34-bba6-425f-b96f-560b717e01d2
Read the transcript: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-01-11/debates/FCAB0ADE-7DE7-4C5D-8A14-D74F0D5B760C/HospitalityIndustryGovernmentSupport
Prime Minister agrees to Petitions Committee call for Government meeting with hospitality sector
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to Petitions Committee Chair Catherine McKinnell MP's call for the Government to meet with petitioners and campaigners from the hospitality sector, including the creator of this petition.
Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, Paul Scully, will meet with petitioners to discuss their call for a Minister for Hospitality.
The meeting was agreed after Catherine McKinnell wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to engage with the hospitality sector after raising the issue at the latest session of the Liaison Committee.
Read the Prime Minister's letter to the Liaison Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/103/liaison-committee-commons/publications/3/correspondence/
Read Catherine McKinnell's letter to the Prime Minister: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/4374/documents/44342/default/
Find out more, including reaction from Catherine McKinnell: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/139070/government-agrees-to-meeting-with-hospitality-sector-petitioners-following-calls-from-the-petitions-committee/
Follow the Petitions Committee on Twitter for real-time updates on its work: https://www.twitter.com/hocpetitions
What is the Liaison Committee?
The Liaison Committee is made up of the Chairs of the House of Commons select committees. It considers the overall work of all select committees, promotes effective scrutiny of Government, and chooses committee reports for debates. It questions the Prime Minister about policy, usually three times a year.
Find out more about the Liaison Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/103/liaison-committee-commons/
MPs to debate Support for the Hospitality Industry during Covid-19
MPs will debate Support for the Hospitality Industry during Covid-19 on Wednesday 24 March in the main House of Commons Chamber. The subject of the debate has been determined by the Backbench Business Committee.
This will be a general debate. General debates allow MPs to debate important issues, however they do not end in a vote nor can they change the law.
The debate will start after a debate on online anonymity and anonymous abuse.
Watch here this Wednesday: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/4ee11fcd-f567-4897-8c0b-f04de0be4caa
You'll be able to read a transcript of the debate a few hours after it happens: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-03-24
Find out more about how Parliamentary debates work: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/debates/
Find out more about the Backbench Business Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/202/backbench-business-committee/
Government launches strategy for reopening and recovery of the hospitality sector
On Monday 19 July, the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets Paul Scully MP gave a written statement to the House of Commons on the Government's new Hospitality Strategy.
The Minister updated MPs on the Government's plans to support the hospitality sector in recovering from the covid-19 pandemic and the Government's long-term vision for the sector. These plans were set out in the Government's strategy paper for the sector, published on Friday 16 July, entitled 'Hospitality strategy: reopening, recovery, resilience'.
Read the Minister's statement:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-07-19/HCWS190
Read the Government's strategy paper:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hospitality-strategy-reopening-recovery-resilience
What are written statements?
Written ministerial statements are a way for Ministers to keep Parliament up to date with Government policies and actions, including its response to major issues or incidents, and to put this information into the public domain.
Find out more about them here:
https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/written-statements/