Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Berwick-upon-Tweed, has made a plea to the Chancellor, George Osborne ahead of the Autumn Statement to ensure that the North East is not disadvantaged from the proposed devolution of the power to charge a tax on air passengers to the Scottish Parliament.
The recently-published Smith Commission recommended that this power should be included within new devolution arrangements for Scotland. Anne-Marie Trevelyan said; “whilst I generally welcome the Commission's findings, I am concerned about the potential implications for our region if Scotland were to decide to reduce or abolish Air Passenger Duty, as the SNP Government have indicated that they would like to. I have contacted the Chancellor to make the North East’s voice very clear that measures need to be put in place to avoid variations and distortions which would have a negative effect on this region's airports, and the future of our business development and air passengers.”
Anne-Marie Trevelyan has also held discussions with Newcastle Airport over the potential impact of this proposed tax change, as the Newcastle Airport team are concerned that APD variations by the Scottish Government could lead to 1,000 fewer jobs across the North East by 2025, significant impact on passenger numbers, £400M in Gross Value Added (GVA) lost between 2015 and 2025, and additional journey time costs of £265M between 2015 and 2025.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan added; “I have been in close discussions with the Chancellor’s team since the publication of the Smith Commission Report, and I am optimistic that as he is very committed to bridging the gap between the north and south and supporting England’s northern economy he will work closely with the Smith Commission to ensure that regions of England are not adversely affected by any devolved tax-raising powers.”