Fury at 14-year potential prison sentences for people caught evading tourism tax

Last week, the Visitor Levy Bill was laid in Parliament, which would enable the collection of nightly fees from overnight stays to be reinvested locally in high streets, public spaces and tourist attractions.

Such taxes have been common in cities across the continent for years, with Barcelona raising almost £125m every year.

Currently only councils in Scotland, however when the legislation is passed this power will be handed over to English mayors which the Government says is “the most significant step in making fiscal devolution a reality”.

York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith and West Yorkshire’s Tracy Brabin have both stated they will introduce some sort of levy in their regions, despite the protests of some tourism and hospitality businesses.

However, controversially the bill says the maximum sentence for deliberately evading the tourism tax is 14 years.

In the House of Commons, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon asked whether the Ministry of Justice had carried out an impact assessment and how many extra prison places would be needed.

Justice Secretary Alex Norris said that decisions across Government are taken "in the round", and that if people do not follow the levy, "there ought to be sanctions".

Afterwards, Mr Gordon said: “Some 650 more offenders were released early today because our prisons are full.

“There are fewer than 2,100 spare places left, and Refuge has warned that domestic abuse perpetrators are among those walking free.

"I asked the Justice Secretary three simple questions: has his department tested the impact, when will the assessments be published, and how many prison places will this need? He couldn't answer any of them.

“Harrogate and Knaresborough’s hotels and B&Bs are already under huge pressure. Labour needs to get its priorities in order and publish the impact assessment before this Bill goes any further."