What can I do

Write to your local MP.

Or e-mail.

You can find your local MP's details and e-mail address here: http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/alms.cfm

We suggest the following wording:

Dear

Re: The CuttheVAT campaign for hairdressing businesses

I am writing to canvass your support for a cut in VAT to 5% for all hairdressing salons.

Britain's 31,000 hairdressing salons are huge employers and many of the 200,000 staff they employ are at risk because of lack of available credit and reduced demand. Hairdressing salons have a grossly disproportionate turnover on which VAT is payable to the VAT that can be offset from purchases because they are labour-intensive service businesses.

A 5% rate for hairdressing salons, only, would provide a stimulus package that would boost consumer spending, create a fairer competitive playing field and enhance employment in the sector.

A study by the Dutch Hairdressers Association, which first applied a reduced rate of VAT to 6% within the framework of what was originally a three-year experiment carried out with the consent of the Council of the European Union for labour-intensive small businesses, found that the net effect to the Treasury was at worse zero and at best slightly increased.

The Dutch study also found the reduction in VAT for the service element of hairdressing resulted in a "significantly positive impact on the number of employees in the hairdressing sector" and proved a strong fiscal incentive for hairdressers with a relatively low turnover to no longer take part in the black economy. The increase in employment in 2000, 2001 and 20002 was 33%, 56% and 53% higher respectively than it would have been without the VAT reduction.

Turnover in salons rose 10% between 2005-08. But most significant of all is that the Dutch study showed that the volume of business in the hairdressing sector increased by almost 6% in 2000, right in the middle of the recession. This was greatly influenced by the reduced VAT rate.

I would be grateful if you could look into this matter and bring it to the attention of The Rt. Hon Alistair Darling MP, chancellor of the exchequer, and his officials at the Treasury explaining the unintended damage the current rate of VAT is causing and the documented benefits of a reduced 5% rate.

Yours sincerely