Tourism Alliance Weekly Update – 23 July

From Eddy Leviten, Executive Director

Parliament has risen for summer recess, which normally means a quieter week for this newsletter. Instead, we have had a change of Prime Minister, a wholesale reshuffle of Whitehall, the renaming of two Government departments, the abolition of a third, a 14-area local government reorganisation that a chunk of the governing party’s own backbenchers called “a disgrace,” and the Welsh Senedd passing its own visitor levy into law. Somewhere in among all that, Edinburgh’s levy goes live tomorrow. If you were hoping for a gentle end to term, I’m sorry to disappoint you.

The headline for us: Andy Burnham entered No.10 on Monday, and the machinery of government has been substantially rewired around him. A new Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, incorporating a Manchester-based “Number 10 North” unit, has taken direct responsibility for local economic growth and devolution strategy – out of both the Treasury and MHCLG. Caroline Simpson, currently chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, has been lined up to run it day to day. The Institute for Government has welcomed the restructuring in principle while asking, pointedly, whether anyone yet knows how responsibilities will actually be divided between this new unit, the mayors, and the remaining Whitehall departments. We are asking exactly the same question, for exactly the same reason: this is the machine that will decide how the overnight visitor levy is actually implemented, and at the moment nobody seems entirely sure who is driving it.

While all that machinery was being rewired, Burnham found time this morning to announce a 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues from next April; welcome news, though it looks rather like a bigger version of January’s relief, which excluded restaurants and hotels and was promptly branded a “soft U-turn.” We shall see whether the sequel avoids the same reviews and will, of course, be pushing for relief to extend further into our sector.

We have written to six Ministers who heads the most crucial departments for our sector, outlining our issues and offering to be part of discussions on shaping policy within the new framework.

On personnel, there is good news and an open question. Lisa Nandy remains at DCMS, and Baroness Taylor of Stevenage remains the MHCLG minister who has fielded most of this year’s OVL questions in the Lords — real continuity at a moment when continuity is scarce. Stephanie Peacock remains a DCMS minister, though her specific brief has not yet been reconfirmed, so I am resisting the temptation to call her the Tourism Minister until someone tells us that officially.

Away from the reshuffle, it has been a useful week for direct advocacy. I caught up with Grainne Hurst at the Betting and Gaming Council, spoke with the University of Westminster’s FUTOURWORK team following up on their workforce survey, had a call with Alistair at PASC to crystallise the Working Group 1 short paper on the OVL, and spoke with David Sheen at UK Hospitality in his role chairing our Workforce, Skills and Regulatory Burden working group (WG3). I am also grateful to whoever in the Lords used their own high street in Romford as evidence for how national insurance is hitting hospitality; it is always more persuasive coming from someone who has actually spoken to the people running the bars and restaurants, rather than from a briefing document. Even mine.

Eddy

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PARLIAMENTARY & POLITICAL

Burnham’s Government: Full Ministerial List, DCMS/DBIST/DfT/Treasury
Andy Burnham entered Downing Street on 20 July following an unopposed Labour leadership contest. Two departments have been renamed and a third abolished: DCMS reverts to its 2017–2023 title, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; the Department for Business and Trade becomes the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), absorbing most of the abolished Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The rest of DSIT’s functions split between the new Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and DCMS itself (which picks up digital infrastructure, online safety and digital identity policy).

DCMS — Secretary of State: Lisa Nandy MP (retained). Minister of State (Creative Industries, Media and Arts): Ian Murray MP. Parliamentary Under-Secretary: Stephanie Peacock MP (retained at DCMS, brief not yet reconfirmed). Also: Vicky Foxcroft MP and Ruth Mackenzie CBE (both new).

DBIST — Secretary of State: Jonathan Reynolds MP (returns, replacing Peter Kyle). Minister of State: Kate Dearden MP; Minister of State: Chris McDonald MP. Minister for Artificial Intelligence (joint with Cabinet Office, attends Cabinet): Kanishka Narayan MP.

Department for Transport — Secretary of State: Heidi Alexander MP (remains). Minister of State: Peter Hendy, Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill. Parliamentary Under-Secretaries: Keir Mather MP and Justin Madders MP (new).

HM Treasury — Chancellor: John Healey MP, a surprise appointment; Rachel Reeves leaves government entirely. Chief Secretary to the Treasury (attends Cabinet): Emma Reynolds MP. Financial Secretary/Paymaster General: James Murray MP. Economic Secretary: Lucy Rigby KC MP.

Elsewhere: Angela Rayner returns to MHCLG as Housing Secretary, with Matthew Pennycook remaining as Minister of State (now attending Cabinet) and Baroness Taylor of Stevenage remaining as the department’s Lords minister. Pat McFadden remains at the DWP. Ed Miliband becomes Foreign Secretary; Shabana Mahmood remains Home Secretary.

Alison McGovern has moved to Minister of State for Health and Social Care. She has handled the bulk of this year’s Commons written questions on the OVL so we will see who picks that up.

Source: GOV.UK — Ministerial Appointments: July 2026

Devolution Moves to No.10: What It Means for the OVL

The most consequential structural change for our purposes: responsibility for local economic growth and devolution strategy is transferring out of MHCLG and the Treasury into a new Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, which incorporates “Number 10 North” – a Manchester-based unit Burnham floated during his leadership campaign. Caroline Simpson, currently chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, is lined up to run it day to day, though the political leadership – potentially the incoming Deputy Prime Minister – was still unconfirmed as we went to press.

The Institute for Government has welcomed the restructuring as “long-overdue,” while asking exactly the question we would ask: how will responsibilities actually be divided between this new unit, mayors and local authorities, and the Whitehall departments that nominally retain some functions? The IfG frames this as a choice between decentralisation (clear central rules, local delivery) and genuine devolution (local discretion, with the attendant risk of a postcode lottery) – precisely the tension underlying our own call for a single, consistent national framework for the OVL rather than 60-plus divergent local schemes.

Culture Commons, a cultural-sector policy body, published its own analysis this week making a similar point from a different angle, and explicitly listed “tourism and visitor economies” among the sectors that should be articulating their contribution to this new place-based growth agenda.

Source: Machinery of Government changes: Fact Sheet – GOV.UK

Local Government Reorganisation: 134 Councils Into 38, Announced on the Last Day Before Recess

On 16 July – the final Commons sitting day before recess – Local Government Secretary Steve Reed confirmed reorganisation decisions for 14 more areas of England, taking the total programme to 134 councils being replaced by 38 unitary authorities. Confirmed areas include Oxford (into three unitaries, aimed partly at addressing the city’s housing constraints), Leicester, Nottingham, Brighton and Hove, Stoke, Hertfordshire, Kent and Medway, and four new councils in Lancashire. Cambridgeshire’s decision was deferred, described in the Commons debate as evidence of “a flawed process.”

Reed’s own framing was direct: reorganisation and devolution “go hand in hand,” creating the unitary structures needed to support more mayoral authorities. That logic connects straight back to the OVL – every one of these newly reorganised areas is a future candidate for mayoral status and, in time, levy powers. The politics were not smooth: reporting from the Commons debate quotes government backbenchers describing their own party’s proposals as “utterly unacceptable” and “a disgrace,” timed as they were for the last possible day before an eight-week recess. Elections for the new unitary councils are set for May 2027.

Source: GOV.UK — 14 more areas to benefit from streamlined local services

Wales Passes Its Visitor Levy Into Law; Scotland’s Exemptions Framework Shows What England Still Lacks

On 8 July the Senedd passed the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) etc. (Wales) Bill — confirming the previously reported 75p/night (hostels, campsites) and £1.30/night (other accommodation) rates, with revenue committed to tourism infrastructure: toilets, footpaths, beaches and visitor centres. Wales now joins Scotland in having primary visitor levy legislation on the statute book; England has neither legislation nor resolved scope questions.

Scotland’s own scheme, by comparison, has a fully worked exemptions framework covering homeless people, domestic abuse survivors, asylum seekers and Gypsy/Traveller communities, and explicitly includes caravans and campsites within scope. England, by contrast, still cannot confirm whether the OVL applies to camping and caravan pitches, asylum hotel accommodation, canal boats, or school overnight trips – four separate, unresolved scope questions now tracked across multiple written answers this year.

A further, sharper question was tabled on 13 July by David Simmonds MP, asking MHCLG directly whether it will ensure the OVL cannot be charged on top of an existing Business Improvement District levy already applied to overnight accommodation – naming precisely the double-taxation risk facing Manchester and Liverpool, both of which already run voluntary BID-based visitor charges. No answer has yet been published; we will report it as soon as it lands.

Sources: Hansard — WQ 18186, tabled 13 July 2026

DEVOLVED GOVERNMENTS

Edinburgh Visitor Levy Launches Tomorrow
Edinburgh’s 5% overnight visitor levy goes live 24 July – the first live English-adjacent OVL-style scheme anywhere in the UK. Bookings made and paid for, in whole or part, on or after 1 October 2025 are subject to the charge where the stay itself falls on or after tomorrow’s date. We will be watching closely for early evidence of its effect on demand.

INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE

Domestic Sentiment Tracker: June’s Improvement Did Not Hold
VisitEngland’s July wave of the Domestic Sentiment Tracker (fieldwork 1–7 July) shows both domestic and overseas trip intentions falling back after June’s improvement. Domestic overnight trip intentions for the next 12 months fell to 74%, down from 79% in June and now 3 percentage points below July 2025 – a reversal from the positive year-on-year comparison seen the previous month. The intention-behaviour gap remains at 9 percentage points, consistent with the pattern identified in June.

The more interesting shift is in what’s driving cost concern. In June, the falling cost of fuel was the headline finding, tracking the oil price recovery. This month, the cost of accommodation and eating and drinking out have emerged as the more salient barriers to taking a domestic trip – costs squarely within the sector’s own pricing, not global oil markets. Worth bearing in mind as the OVL debate continues: rising accommodation costs are already suppressing intentions before any levy is added.

Source: VisitEngland — UK Domestic Travel Sentiment Tracker, July 2026

Sporting Events Bill: Government Defeated Once at Report Stage, Major Events Strategy Timed “By Spring”
The Sporting Events Bill completed Report stage in the Lords on 15 July with three divisions. The Government was defeated 212 to 171 on an amendment lowering the “regularly hosted” events threshold, backed by a broad sporting coalition including Wimbledon, the FA, the ECB, the RFU and Silverstone. Two further amendments – a statutory duty to reform ticket resale rules, and a carve-out from Employment Rights Act guaranteed-hours protections for temporary event staff – were both defeated, the latter despite arguments citing London 2012’s volunteer model. The Minister confirmed a Major Events Strategy will be published “by spring.” A separate secondary ticketing Bill, covering price caps and resale fee limits, is also planned for pre-legislative scrutiny this Session.

Sources: Hansard — Sporting Events Bill [HL], Report stage, 15 July 2026

Pavement Licences to Extend Beyond Two Years
A small, practical win: MHCLG has confirmed it will extend the maximum duration of pavement licences beyond the current two-year standard, while consulting on a minimum term. Details are still to be worked out with local government and industry, but this is a clear, welcome direction of travel for hospitality members using outdoor space.

MEMBER EVENTS

Tourism Policy Conference 2026 — 17 November
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FORWARD LOOK

• Edinburgh Visitor Levy launches — 24 July 2026.
• House of Commons returns from recess — 1 September 2026.
• Northern Growth Strategy consultation closes — 31 July 2026. TA submitting response.
• German school groups — simplified entry — 1 August 2026.
• European Athletics Championships — Birmingham, August 2026.
• Domestic Sentiment Tracker — August wave — 20 August 2026.
• Business rates paper (Taxation and Competitiveness WG) — Targeted for 31 August 2026.
• Heathrow NPS consultation closes — 1 September 2026.
• Summer Savings scheme ends — 1 September 2026.
• Workforce, Skills and Regulatory Burden WG — next meeting — Early September 2026.
• Right to Work checks extended to other working arrangements — In force from 1 October 2026.
• Cardiff STR registration deadline — 28 September 2026 (Welsh Revenue Authority).
• City Nation Place UK — 23-24 September 2026, Bradford.
• Tourism Policy Conference 2026 — 17 November 2026, London.
• Local government reorganisation — new unitary elections — May 2027.
• Major Events Strategy — Due “by spring” 2027.
• National Visitor Economy Strategy — Still not published — originally expected autumn 2025.
• Welsh Visitor Levy implementation — From 2027, councils opt in.
• Tour de France 2027 — UK Grand Départ — Edinburgh to Cardiff (men’s), Leeds to London (women’s), July 2027.
• Glasgow Visitor Levy launches — 25 January 2027.
• STR registration scheme mandatory (England) — April 2027.
• Universal UK Resort opens — 2031.