Finance Bill

Hon. Members have made incredibly valid points. The hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) mentioned the dairy industry. We have heard about the situation facing tenant farmers who have no rights to their properties. We have also heard the key point that many structures covered by the allowance will depreciate in value from day one, even if a landowner has the rights to them. That point was glossed over in Committee. Hon. Members on both sides of the House have argued strongly that the matter should be considered again. I want to make a point about the industrial buildings allowance, as I did in Committee. The change to that allowance will have an impact on the tourist sector. When we had a brief debate in Committee about investment in hotels, the Chief Secretary rightly said that things are not the same as they were in 1978, which was when the allowance was first introduced. It is worth reiterating that in the light of a conversation that I have had since that debate. Things have changed since 1978 because the market for city breaks, long weekends and short breaks is now huge. There are places in the UK that were not tourist destinations even 10 years ago, let alone 20 or 30 years ago. Restaurateurs and hoteliers, especially, wish to invest in such areas so that they can provide the correct quality of offering to allow their businesses to compete in such a massive market. I raise that point because much of the tourism and hospitality sectors, as well as large parts of the farming sector, especially the dairy sector, are made up of businesses with incredibly low margins. In Committee, the Chief Secretary cited alternative allowances that will be made available, especially for the tourism sector. I discussed that with friends in the hospitality sector, including an ambitious hotelier who is determined to drive up the quality of his establishment so that it becomes a destination for the city-break market. He requires IBA to assist him to invest, given that margins are tight and the costs are high. When I told him about the other allowances that might be available to help him to deliver what he wants for his business and the area, he just laughed. The new allowances go no way towards taking the place of the IBA to assist the kind of projects that such ambitious hoteliers and business men wish to put in place. I hope that the Chief Secretary takes on board all the comments made during the debate, especially about the removal of the IBA from those in the tourism sector. The measure will have an impact on my constituency. The removal of the ABA will have an especially large impact on the dairy sector. As we know, that sector has been absolutely hammered due to the squeezing of margins. I am sure that the constituent of the hon. Member for Stroud thought long and hard about making his investment. I hope that his business manages to survive and that the Government will consider how to deal with the situation, whether through grandfather rights for existing investments, or a more fundamental rethink about changes to the IBA and ABA.