Pubs need 'full review' of business rates, MPs agree

While Westminster remains starkly divided over Brexit a debate on the future of the nation’s pubs secured cross party support for a meaningful reform of business rates on Tuesday.

The debate was secured by Anne Main, MP for St Albans, who lamented the challenging environment for UK pubs and stated that 30 to 50 pubs in her constituency had seen rate increases, meaning that they need to sell around 180,000 more pints per year to cover further costs.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride assured the Commons that keeping all taxes under review was “at the forefront of the government’s agenda”.

Main’s constituency is home to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), a non-profit consumer campaign group which supports British pubs and provided a comprehensive submission to the Chancellor ahead of September’s budget.

While Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced a freeze on duty to encourage new businesses as part of his autumn budget, Camra has argued that the government can do more.

“It has called for a full review of the business rate system with regard to pubs. It maintains that the current system is not fit for purpose and a review is needed to tackle the unfair penalisation of property-based businesses like pubs, especially given the vastly reduced levels of taxation paid by online retailers,” said Main.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics in September said more than 25% of UK pubs have closed since 2001, though they did enjoy strong festive period as sales increased by 5.1% on the same time last year according to the Coffer Peach Business Tracker.

Tom Stainer, Camra’s chief executive said: “It’s clear that MPs want fundamental reform of our outdated and unfair business rates system. I’d urge the Government to listen carefully to unified calls from backbenchers and from the pub industry to safeguard the long-term future of the Great British Pub.”