Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the value of the UK spirits sector to the economy in (a) employment, (b) exports and (c) tax revenue.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
(a) The Office for National Statistics' Business Register and Employment Survey (2023 edition) estimates total (part-time and full-time) employment in Great Britain for the Distilling; rectifying and blending of spirits industry is 13,700 workers.
(b) HMRC’s overseas trade data estimates that the value of UK spirits exports (excluding undenatured ethyl alcohol) in the 2024 calendar year was £6.6 billion.
(c) HMRC’s tax receipt statistics indicate that the value of alcohol duty paid on spirits for 2024 to 2025 is £4.2 billion.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual value is of UK spirits exports; and what proportion of overall exports those exports were in the last five years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK which includes data on exports of spirits. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).
From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. To build a table, you will need the commodity codes for spirits. These codes are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. Commodity codes for spirits would come under Chapter 22.
The annual trade figures for total exports can be found at uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/overseas/. The last available figures are for July 2025.
If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of excise duty rates on the competitiveness of (a) UK and (b) European distillers; and what fiscal steps she is taking to help support the domestic distilling industry.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK spirits industry makes a vital contribution to our economy and society, with Scotch Whisky remaining the UK’s most successful food and drink export enjoyed by consumers across the globe.
UK alcohol duty is not charged on exports.
There is significant variation in alcohol taxation policy amongst European countries. The World Health Organization recently published a comparison of alcohol taxes across the WHO European Region, which can be found here: https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289061940 .
The UK’s alcohol taxes are generally lower than Sweden and Norway’s, and comparable to the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
Regarding support for the spirits industry, I refer the hon member to the answer that I gave to PQ UIN 80562
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review excise duty rates on (a) spirits, (b) wine and (c) beer.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The baseline assumption, shared by the Government and the Office for Budget Responsibility, is that alcohol duty will be increased annually in line with the Retail Price Index, so that it does not fall in real terms.
As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations from stakeholders to inform policy development.
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and her fiscal rules require day-to-day spending to be fully paid for through tax receipts.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps her Department is taking to help support the growth of independent distilleries in rural areas.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following public consultation, a new duty structure for alcohol products was introduced in August 2023.
The alcohol duty system taxes all alcohol products according to their strength, so the duty owed increases with alcohol content. The system is also progressive, ensuring that higher strength products pay proportionately more tax
The 2023 reforms significantly reduced previous inconsistencies in treatment between different types of alcohol product and introduced two new reliefs: Draught Relief (DR); and Small Producer Relief (SPR).
DR enables products served on draught below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) to pay less duty. This relief provides support to pubs and other hospitality venues, as well as helping producers of eligible products.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor made DR more generous by cutting draught rates by 1.7%, taking a penny of duty off a typical strength pint.
SPR replaced and extended the previous Small Brewers Relief. SPR supports SMEs and new entrants by permitting smaller producers who make 4,500 hectolitres or less of alcohol per year to pay reduced duty rates on all products below 8.5 per cent ABV.
HMRC plans to evaluate the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time for HMRC to gather a broad range of data. The Government welcomes evidence from industry on the impact of the changes so far.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a comparative assessment of taxation rates for (a) land-based and (b) remote gambling operators.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
A range of duty rates apply to different forms of gambling. Bingo duty is 10% of gross profit. Lottery Duty is 12% of ticket value. General Betting Duty is 15% of gross profit for general bets, 10% of gross profit for sports spread betting or 3% of gross profit for financial spread betting. Pool Betting Duty is 15% of gross profit. Remote Gaming Duty is 21% of gross profit. Gaming Duty is 15-50% of gross gaming yield. Machine Games Duty is 5% of gross profit at the lower rate, 20% of gross profit at the standard rate and 25% of gross profit at the higher rate.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps gambling taxation under constant review and welcomes representations from stakeholders to inform policy development.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the Payment Services Directive to ensure that it helps prevent gambling harm.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the financial services sector to help prevent harmful gambling.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require gambling firms to disclose their bank account details on a central registry to empower banks to extend gambling blocks to bank transfers made to gambling companies.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that all banks provide a gambling block to help prevent gambling harm.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.