The Commons EU Scrutiny Committee (Chair: Sir Bill Cash MP) has launched a timely inquiry into EU EES and the UK border. The EU EES is due to launch in late 2024 and will be a new digital way to record entries into and exits out of the EU’s Schengen area. Crucially this will include registering fingerprints at the border. The Committee is looking at the implications for the UK. The Committee is inviting written evidence by Friday 12 January 2024.
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7984/eu-entryexit-and-the-uk-border/
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If you are a new or existing landlord, receiving rental income from a UK property, we have online support available to help you get things right.
You can join live webinars – during which you can ask questions using the on-screen text box. Please note that these webinars do not cover Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax or Stamp Duty Land Taxes. Residential property income for individuals – an introduction They will be looking at: • what we mean by income from property • an overview of furnished holiday lettings • when to record income and expenses • the property income allowance • the 'Rent a Room' scheme Register here Residential property income for individuals – expenses and deductions Find out about: •revenue and capital expenses •expenses before you start letting your property •costs for repairs, improvements, mortgage, and finance •replacement of domestic items relief Register here There’s more help for landlords with your Self Assessment tax return. Choose from the 'UK property income, tax return' playlist, on HMRC’s YouTube channel. You can find additional information in our 'Property rental toolkit'. Register here Residential property income for individuals – expenses and deductions Find out about: •revenue and capital expenses •expenses before you start letting your property •costs for repairs, improvements, mortgage, and finance •replacement of domestic items relief Register here There’s more help for landlords with your Self Assessment tax return. Choose from the 'UK property income, tax return' playlist, on HMRC’s YouTube channel. You can find additional information in our 'Property rental toolkit'. The Celtic English Academy are keen to share a remarkable development on the horizon, one that holds great promise for both our industry and Wales as a whole. The UK and Japanese governments have jointly announced a significant increase in the quota of Youth Mobility Visa schemes and working holiday visas, from the current 1,500 to an impressive 6,000 annually, commencing in 2024. Although the UK government's official statement is pending, you can find the detailed announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan here: Japan's MOFA Announcement. For reference, the English version of the original Memorandum of Cooperation related to this announcement can be accessed here: Memorandum of Cooperation (English).
This expansion primarily focuses on the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) visa, which is currently available to specific nationalities, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and enables individuals aged 18 to 30 to live and work in the UK for up to 2 years. At Celtic English Academy (CEA), a British Council-accredited English language centre in Cardiff,they teach English to over 1,200 students annually from more than 50 countries. The CEA want the opportunity to explore the promotion of Study & Work programmes in collaboration with colleagues in the tourism sector here in Wales. Their vision involves offering a 3 to 6-month English language course at Celtic in Cardiff, followed by 6 months of apprentice work placements at various tourism attractions, accommodations, and other hospitality sectors, with the potential for an additional 12 months of work. Shoko Doherty, Chief Executive Officer - CEO:- 'I kindly request your consideration in participating in this initiative by providing 6 months of apprentice training in tourism and hospitality-related roles such as Housekeeping, Business Administration, Customer Service, Hospitality, Retail, and Accommodation Services. We aim to ensure that these apprentices receive the Real Living Wage (£12 per hour) for a minimum of 20 hours per week and that assistance is provided in locating suitable accommodation in their respective areas of residence. We will ensure that each apprentice meets the minimum English language requirements for their specific roles, with B1 level for basic work such as housekeeping and kitchen assistant and B2 level for positions like receptionist and business administration. Over the past two years, English UK, the umbrella organisation for accredited English language teaching centres in the UK, has actively lobbied in collaboration with tourism organisations, including UKInbound and Tourism Alliance, to expand the Youth Mobility Scheme visas. While the UK government has not yet officially announced the expansion of the YMS to include other nationalities, there is a strong possibility that such an announcement may occur in the near future. If this indeed becomes a reality, we are eager to extend our Work & Study programme to additional nationalities. This initiative holds the potential to serve as a valuable workforce solution for the tourism and hospitality sectors in Wales while simultaneously fostering opportunities for the growth of the inbound tourism economy in our region. To explore this exciting opportunity further, I invite you to participate in our Zoom meeting at 1pm on the 14th of November (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83053767277?pwd=RWVTR3NMa1VPWlVocnA1aXozMG9IZz09). Alternatively, you may provide me with the following information by completing an online form (https://forms.gle/397j1oyZD3yGH67J9)
The initial cohort of students is anticipated to arrive in the UK in April 2024, with apprentice training commencing in either July or October. I'm currently frequently travelling abroad, so communication via email may experience some delays. To ensure a more efficient and timely connection, I hope to meet many of you at the above proposed Zoom meeting or through your completion of the form. This way, my team can follow up with you individually. I eagerly await your response and the possibility of embarking on this exciting journey together. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or require further information'. Diolch yn fawr I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best regards, Shoko Doherty Chief Executive Officer - CEO shoko@celticenglish.co.uk | +44 (0)2920 828287 +44 (0)7765 678189 Congratulations to WTA member organisation, Historic Houses Cymru on their upcoming 50th anniversary. As part of the celebration Historic Houses have published a report titled, Changing Times, Valuing History: historic houses for the 21st century which looks at the economic, cultural and social contribution of our Historic Houses across the UK. Historic Houses was founded in 1973, to champion and represent the UK’s world-famous independent historic houses, castles, and gardens. Historic Houses are hubs of creativity, culture, commerce, and community across many of the most rural parts of the UK, and act as lynchpins to thriving tourism and creative industries sectors. The King opened the new session of the UK Parliament today with a range of new UK Government bills announced in three broad areas: Growing the Economy, Strengthening Society, and Keeping People Safe. The full text of the King's speech, and details about each of the bills announced, as well as some commentary by the Prime Minister, is in this document.
There are three Bills of relevance to the tourism industry at large: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill - This is a carry-over Bill from the previous session. The UK Government conducted a quick consultation on drip pricing and fake reviews; that was in order to feed into this bill. Drip pricing is the practice of additional costs being added during a consumer's booking journey. In many cases this is for genuine additional products and services which give consumer more choice and businesses more opportunity for selling. However, the Government is keen to tackle the practice in particular for mandatory service fees etc. The document says that any action on drip pricing is subject to consultation - which could simply be subject to the outcome of the consultation which recently closed, or further consultation. The same consultation also looked at tackling fake reviews which would be of benefit to many businesses who suffer from this unfair practice which the Government is also planning to tackle in this Bill. Draft Rail Reform Bill - This will look to "Simplifying fares and ticketing, providing more convenient ways to pay with the rollout of Pay As You Go and new ways of buying tickets such as single leg pricing which will make the railways easier to use (for example by removing the anomaly of some single tickets being almost as expensive as a return ticket)." Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill or "Martyn's Law". This has been discussed and debated previously and could have significant implications for many in our sector.The Bill will require certain venues to fulfil necessary but proportionate steps according to their capacity to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and reduce harm. The duties that premises will have will depend on the size of the venue. Premises and events with a capacity of 800 or above will be in the enhanced tier, while premises with a capacity of 100 to 799 will be in the standard tier. Some details on the requirements for both the enhanced and standard tier are in the Government document but the Standard tier requirements will also be subject to consultation, in order to "strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises..." VisitBritain’s newly launched website is now live. VB’s research and insights resources available via https://www.visitbritain.org/research-insights
It has a large range of data sets, reports, and analysis available . FROM 30 OCTOBER 2023 THERE WILL BE A BAN ON ANYONE SELLING OR SUPPLYING SOME SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS IN WALES. What is being banned?
For more information visit The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Act | GOV.WALES There are communication assets available here to support the campaign: Welsh Government Communications Services Digital Toolkit ‘A VISITOR LEVY FOR WALES’ - Welsh Government notification of introduction of a Levy Bill23/10/2023 Firstly, the good news (if there is any), is that the earliest a visitor levy will be in place is 2027.
A Contribution for a Sustainable Future” which provides details of how the visitor levy will work has been published (links below). A draft Bill will be introduced into the Senedd by the end of 2024. The Senedd will scrutinise the draft Bill and may propose amending it as part of its review, before deciding whether or not to endorse it by means of a vote. This will take due time, and it is estimated that this decision will be made in 2025. If the Senedd approves the legislation, it will then be for each local authority to decide if it wishes to start the process to introduce a levy in their area. A local authority would need to consult with its communities, and undertake its own impact assessments, to inform its decision about implementing a levy. Once a local authority makes a decision to introduce a levy, there will be a notice period to ensure businesses and visitors are prepared. Through the above process, the Welsh Government estimates that the earliest a visitor levy will be in place in any part of Wales is 2027. The Welsh Government states, ‘The visitor levy will put power into the hands of local communities and give them a tool to encourage sustainable, regenerative tourism’. This will be the crux of the intervening debate. The link to the recently updated Policy & Strategy Document- A visitor levy for Wales | GOV.WALES (first published on 20 September 2022 and updated on 17 October 2023). Also the Link - A Visitor Levy for Wales: A contribution for a sustainable future (gov.wales) to the Promotional material published on 17 October 2023 entitled “A Visitor Levy for Wales The headline of this quarter’s Visitor Tourism Business Barometer is “Quiet Year Continues”. I’m tempted to refer to Conan Doyle’s famous detective’s constipation at this point. All sectors except attractions, which benefited from the rainy weather, reported a greater drop than rise in customer numbers.
Those businesses which have seen better figures than last year cite improvements to their offer/marketing and the loyalty of repeat customers. Never has quality and messaging been so important in managing demand. Messaging is tricky at the moment with media either revelling in negative stories (tax, 20mph) or raising the same handful of Welsh destinations to the top of everyone’s bucket list. Investing in quality is even more difficult with profit squeezed by the need to discount prices at a time of inflated costs to attract customers who are not staying as long and often spending less. Three quarters of the businesses surveyed for Welsh Government were different types of accommodation provider. Not one of them will hit 50% occupancy for October - December which does not bode well for self-catering’s ability to hit 182 days. It is important that Welsh Government does not see these figures as a one-off: They point to problems with tourism’s uncertain climate and cannot simply be explained away as due to a bout of bad weather. The visitor economy faces systematic, longer-term challenges which limit agility to respond to customer behaviour or the ability to invest in improving the offer and marketing. Tourism is a major component of both local and national economies and needs a period of stability to think and plan for a sustainable future. It is populated with entrepreneurs and innovators who are part of their communities and whilst ready to move ahead, are increasingly frustrated by limiting decisions made outside their control. Whatever the government’s policy aims, it’s in their interests to design the means of delivery in a way that minimises unintended harms. Listening to grassroots tourism providers, taking industry’s advice is a sign of confident government, especially when your own stats show you need to. Over 1500 have responded to the PASC UK led, WTA, UKH survey. The headlines from the ‘Phase 1’ Wales Survey:
Phase two: The petition https://pascuk.eaction.online/182Wales is still open, over 2500 letters have been sent to your Representatives through the Petition. This petition can be filled in by any registered voter in Wales. Many have already received supportive responses along the lines of ‘I supported these measures at the beginning, but can see that a review is timely…' etc. We need businesses to tell them about the relentlessness of it all, the constant counting of the days sold, the discounting to get extra days, taking ever shorter breaks, not daring to close for a break yourselves in case you miss one night sold, unable to close to refurbish for the same reason, the stress and mental anguish. We have made this really easy to complete, it is embedded under a package called iParl. You click on the link tbelow and you are taken to a microsite, where all you do is enter your Postcode, your address, your name and hit send…. Bingo. We can track how many are sent and are looking for a least 30 per MS. It takes just over a minute, so please click here, and help us help you: https://pascuk.eaction.online/182Wales |