Today (25th May) is the day the Government is due to make its final decision surrounding the controversial caravan tax and it seems that the call for the proposed tax to be revoked is being “seriously considered”.
The campaign against the a tax of 20 per cent being applied to static caravans, and some larger touring caravans, has been running for ¬several weeks and at the time of writing has over 10,000 signatures.
If the planned changes go ahead then all static caravans will be affected, as well as the recently launched Bailey Retreat leisure home and the Fifth Wheel range of touring caravans.
Shortly after George Osborne’s budget was announced in March, a group of MPs from the Hull, an area where a lot of jobs come from the caravan industry, organised a campaign against the tax.
Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull announced on the 28th April that she was launching a petition and was supported by MP for Hull East and former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott and MPs for Hull East and West.
Since then the campaign has grown considerably. As well as MPs several organisations have spoken out about the effect the proposed tax would have on the caravan industry.
Simon Hart, Tory MP for Camarthenshire West and South Pembrokeshire spoke out against the reform earlier this week, saying the government had “got it wrong”.
The National Caravan Council (NCC) has claimed that the tax rise would lead to more than 7,000 job losses in the industry.
Willerby Holiday Homes, based in Hull, recently announced that it would be forced to cut 350 jobs, around half its work force, if the tax went ahead.
The latest development came yesterday when Business Minister Greg Clark said the Government understood the “importance” of the caravan industry, the BBC reported.
Hull North Labour MP Diana Johnson said: “The Government has realised it is under pressure, it’s taken aback by the strength of feeling from MPs and the industry.
“I hope that they will drop the tax. I think that they failed to consider the job losses that would come out as a result of it. So I’m very pleased they’re considering it.”
