Ahead of a discussion in the House of Lords, the Countryside Alliance has shared a briefing note about fiscal support for rural pubs.
The full briefing note can be downloaded here, with the key points summarised below.
- Pubs are important as community hubs especially in more isolated rural areas. In big cities there may be different options available to people, but in towns and villages in the countryside, pubs are often one of the few, or perhaps only, places that can provide a space for social interaction for those living in remote areas.
- In recent years the economic viability of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) sector has suffered from increases in taxation, rising labour costs and difficult market conditions. Country Land and Business Association research has found that most rural councils reported more pubs in their areas have closed than opened since 2020.
- At the last Budget a welcome announcement from the Chancellor of a reduction in the business rates multiplier coincided with significant rises in the valuations of businesses, with pubs hit especially badly.
- Subsequently in January, the Treasury announced that business rates bills for pubs would be cut by 15% for 2026-27 and frozen at that level in real terms for the following two years.
- There is a case for additional fiscal support for pubs. In advance of the 2025 Budget, we called on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to help protect rural pubs by extending the alcohol duty rate cut announced in the 2024 Budget to non-draught alcoholic drinks.
- We have also called for the government to make further cuts to beer duty, mitigate new employment costs arising from increases in the minimum wage and employers’ National Insurance, and proceed with meaningful business rates reform.