By Sharon Wilson
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced today in his summer statement that vat would be lowered from 20% to 5% for the hospitality and leisure trade across Britain until next January
to help businesses bounce-back from the impacts of COVID 19.
The Scottish Tourism Alliance has campaigned for this measure as has UK Hospitality .
The chancellor also announced his “kick start” scheme to hep 16-24 year olds whereby the government will pay them the minimum wage - £4.55 per hour for under 18s rising to £6.45 an hour for 16- 18 years and £8.20 an hour for 18-24 year olds - for up to 25 hours a week.
There will also be an 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme whereby participating restaurants can offer customers up to £10 off per head Monday-Wednesday. Hospitality businesses will be able to reclaim the money from the government by signing up to a website which will be launched Monday 13 July.
However Marc Crothall of the Scottish Tourism Alliance pointed out:
" We must remember that while August marks the start of the school holidays south of the border, Scots are already planning staycations and days out throughout July so we will be pushing for the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ initiative to be brought forward in alignment with the reopen date of Scotland’s tourism industry on 15th July.”