Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts and Arfon MP Hywel Williams are calling on the chancellor to extend the VAT lifeline for hospitality businesses for another 12 months to help the economy recovery.

In July the UK government cut VAT on food, accommodation, and attractions to 5 per cent, which was extended until the end of March.

The MPs say keeping VAT at 5 per cent would provide much needed certainty for struggling businesses and help the hospitality industry return to profitability, safeguarding jobs across Gwynedd.

A petition to Parliament calling for the continuation of the rate relief has already received over six thousand signatures.

In a joint statement, the MPs said: “No sector has been hit harder than the tourism and hospitality industry, and the economy of Gwynedd relies heavily on the revenue generated by the hard work of local businesspeople, sustaining thousands of jobs.

“There have been mounting calls from local businesses for further sector-specific support and assurances from government, given the necessary public health restrictions still in place.

“Last summer, the chancellor bowed to industry and political pressure, and cut VAT on food, accommodation and attractions from 20 per cent to 5 per cent, providing some breathing space for struggling hospitality businesses.

“Plaid Cymru is calling on the chancellor to extend this VAT relief to the hospitality sector.

“This will not only allow businesses in this hard-pressed sector a breathing space but will best-position them to take advantage of increased domestic tourism and forecasted increases in consumer spending as our communities and economy emerge from lockdown measures.

“Noting the vital role of the Welsh hospitality sector in providing local employment opportunities, we believe that such VAT relief, if accompanied by increased focus on local procurement, can help drive a wider economic recovery by using the sector’s purchasing power to support local businesses.

“Whilst we have long lobbied for a reduction in tourism VAT to 5 per cent, this tax remains reserved to Westminster and the relief is unlikely to be indefinite.

“That is why we will also continue to work with the UK and Welsh governments to ensure that tax deferrals and other such measures, if reintroduced, have a clear, sustainable pathway for repayment so as not to create an insurmountable horizon of debt and deferred payments for Welsh businesses.

“Pulling the plug on the reduced VAT rate for hospitality now would be short-sighted and would put at risk a sector that has been brought to its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic.”