MAY | ME, MYSELF & I
The APPG is more comfortable
when talking about conferences
and exhibitions rather than
festivals. My experience has been
in working with Glastonbury,
the biggest music festival in the
world. But I fear the benefi ts
of Glastonbury and festivals
are maybe being missed by
government.
The issue of complaints from
locals may be frustrating, but the
offi cials handling the complaints are
elected, and it is their job to represent
residents and respect the democratic
process.
James
Heappey MP
Access chats to the chairman for the All
Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for
Events and ‘Glastonbury MP’
National government must do better,
and must share best practice on
events. Councils, meanwhile, should
be less intimidated by having tens of
thousands of people visiting. US state
governments have dedicated teams
and are more entrepreneurial when it
comes to this. A hotel tax gives these
organisations an amount per night
in their local coff ers to resource their
local events teams and build facilities.
All I’ve heard from the UK is a push
to reduce hotel VAT to encourage
activity. The reality is that the VAT
ask is actually really regressive.
Because, who gets the biggest tax cut
by reducing the vat from 20% to 5%? It’s actually the person renting
the presidential suite at The Dorchester.
A levy, of a pound per room per night that goes directly to events,
would be transformative for the industry. We could, in theory, lower
VAT on hotels and also add a hotel tax to fund events, but that may
only be possible when we leave the EU.
There’s huge value in local government taking the lead in benefi tting
the city as a whole by using events. They bring high quality graduate
jobs, attract people from across the country and internationally to
your area. Local Authorities that are seeking to change the brand
of an area, should recognise that it all starts with an events agenda.
But, we owe it to local residents to be discerning as to the way these
50
events are run.
Government needs to
recognise that this is
an industry that sits
awkwardly in the mix, and
is not easily defi ned under
one department. Lots of
events are put under the
‘international trade’ banner
because they are exports, but
events tourism is sometimes
seen as ‘Digital, Culture, Media and
Sports’. However, at the same time,
they often fall under the Business
and Strategy. The Home Offi ce
also has a role to play in terms of
licencing, planning permission,
permits, and of course local
government has a role.
The APPG board need to be
listened to and supported by
each department in order to be
eff ective.
Companies in my constituency
have benefi ted the UK hugely
because of festivals. We have
a company which is now the
nation’s leading provider of
theatrical props. And, we have a
staging company that provides
stages all over the world.
There’s three things I think are top of the APPG agenda. Is the events
industry board doing everything it was set up to do? My instinct is
it is ‘not quite yet’, and that’s not a criticism of [former chair] Nick De
Bois MP or the people in it from the industry, but the government
departments for not getting involved enough.
We must encourage sharing best events practice across local
authorities, big or small. There are real economic opportunities
from being imaginative and slightly less cautious when it comes to
allowing events to happen
I’m agnostic as to whether events come from the free market or
government. Local authorities should be open as to where a good
idea comes from.