Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday brought changes at the top of the Department for Business (BEIS) and Department for Culture (DCMS) which will impact on industry lobbying efforts.
Business secretary Grant Shapps, who was transport secretary through the pandemic, has moved to head a new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, with Kemi Badenoch becoming secretary of state at a new Department for Business and Trade which replaces BEIS and the Department for International Trade.
Badenoch was formerly international trade secretary.
Lucy Frazer, MP for South East Cambridgeshire who has previously served as solicitor general and prisons minister, has been made secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which oversees domestic and inbound tourism.
Frazer replaces Michelle Donelan who heads a new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Sunak has named Greg Hands as Conservative Party chairman to replace Nadhim Zahawi who was sacked last week.
The new appointments and creation of new departments also saw some changes at ministerial level.
Tourism minister Stuart Andrew, who was appointed in early November, remains at the DCMS where he has additional responsibilities for sport and civil society.
Andrew also retains an additional portfolio as equalities minister, to which he was appointed at the Department for International Trade last October. In this role he moves to the new Department for Business and Trade.
Former tourism minister Nigel Huddleston will also take a ministerial role in the Department for Business and Trade.
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer greeted the changes saying: “We’ve worked closely with officials and ministers across the previous government departments and look forward to continuing that work with the new ministers and within the new structure – continuing as the leading voice to government representing our members and the wider industry.”
He noted: “There is a wide policy agenda for the travel industry which cuts across many of these new departments – from how the UK’s international travel industry can drive growth, to innovation to deliver sustainable travel, the review of the Package Travel Regulations and supporting businesses through the energy crisis and recovering from the pandemic.
“As always after a reshuffle or government restructure, we shall be making early contact with those who are new in post, as we continue our regular engagement with officials across different departments, including the Department for Transport and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.”
The Advantage Travel Partnership and tour operators group Aito welcomed the reshuffle as “an opportunity for much-needed change in the regulation, governance and representation of the outbound travel industry”.
Noting responsibilities for outbound travel currently spread across the Department for Transport (DfT), BEIS and DCMS, they repeated the industry appeal for a single minister within the DfT to be responsible for the sector.
In a joint statement, Advantage and Aito said “Using this change to simplify the way the outbound travel sector is represented in government can deliver a huge benefit to our members and their customers.
“Navigating a complex government structure to find the right department to deal with adds an administrative burden that is unsustainable.
“By giving one minister responsibility for the industry, our industry will be better placed to receive fair representation and support.”