Families heading to theme parks, zoos and museums this summer will see prices drop as a temporary VAT cut comes into force on Thursday, but critics have dismissed the savings as negligible.
The government is reducing tax from 20% to 5% on a range of family attractions and children’s meals from 25 June until 1 September – timed to coincide with school holidays starting in Scotland at the end of this month, followed by Northern Ireland, England and Wales in July.
“VAT cut from 20% to 5% on family attractions begins Thursday, but critics say savings are negligible.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the summer holidays “can be quite expensive” and the purpose of the cut was to “help people make those precious memories during the summer holidays, but not having to fork out too much for it”.
But Alan, 42, a regular theme park visitor from Brighton, said he does not expect much from the VAT cut. “These kind of attractions are quite expensive in the first place,” he told the BBC, adding that any savings passed on would be “negligible” and only benefit those who go as a one-off. His family uses a theme park pass for Legoland, Chessington World of Adventure and Sea Life centres.
Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, estimated the cut would lead to an “average saving of around £10 per UK household”. Alan said more useful measures would be addressing energy and fuel costs. “How the government can say this is going to result in any household saving is a mystery,” he said.
Reeves defended the policy, telling the BBC the government was “targeting this directly at families”. She also noted unlimited free bus travel for children in England in August and pointed to other measures such as freezing prescription charges, freezing rail fares and providing energy bill relief.
Rob Parkinson, chief executive of the Family Holiday Charity, said the government, industry and voluntary sector needed to “work together to identify and implement an enduring solution” for families.
The VAT cut also applies to children’s meals served in restaurants and kids’ and family tickets for cinemas, theatres, concerts, shows, exhibitions, adventure parks, nature reserves and wildlife parks.