Attending events at Wembley Stadium and Arena could soon become more expensive as the council looks to introduce a ‘ticket tax’ on sales to go alongside a ‘visitor tax’.
At a meeting earlier this month (July 7), Brent Council passed a motion to introduce a new tax on visitors staying overnight in the borough to help fund improvements in the area.
The local authority is looking to leverage the growing event scene in Brent with headline acts like Coldplay and Oasis performing at Wembley Stadium this summer to generate additional funds so the benefits are “felt by all residents”.
Council Leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, has since written to the government to explore the possibility of adding a “small levy” to support grassroots music and cultural institutions.
In the letter sent to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner MP, Cllr Butt urges the government to give the council the legal powers to add a “fair and modest discretionary charge” on hotel and short-stay accommodation.
He is also asking for it to “explore the feasibility” of adding an additional fee to ticket prices.
Image: Brent Council
Cllr Butt has asked the government to “work with the Greater London Authority and boroughs like Brent to explore the feasibility of a small levy on tickets for events at large arenas and stadiums, to support grassroots music and cultural institutions that underpin the wider creative economy – and create the next generation of acts to fill our stadiums and arenas.”
Brent Council wants “further devolution of fiscal powers” so it is able to invest locally raised revenue back into the community.
In the letter, the council claims residents report that they “do not see a proportionate share of the benefits from Wembley’s success” and there is a “critical funding gap” to meet the costs of hosting the events whilst still maintaining the quality of life for residents.
Whilst the council suggests the increasing number of events are a “cause for celebration”, it also brings enormous and growing pressure on local services, such as waste management, public safety, and environmental enforcement.
The letter adds: “Brent Council believes that a locally collected, ring-fenced visitor levy – as successfully implemented across much of Europe – is a fair and progressive way to ensure tourism and high-footfall events contribute sustainably to the communities that host them.”
In England, neither the central government nor local councils currently have the power to introduce a tourist tax – primary legislation would be needed to allow it. A legal workaround of establishing an Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID), such as those in Manchester and Liverpool, is possible but it must be agreed via a referendum of local businesses and the levy falls on business rate payers rather than visitors.
Hence Brent Council, alongside other local authority leaders and mayors, are calling on the government to introduce new laws that would give it the “firepower” to generate additional income from tourism.
