Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake a review into the effect of business rates on traditional pubs compared with new small bars.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Pubs and licensed premises are valued for business rates by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) using ‘Fair Maintainable Trade’, a widely-established method. The VOA’s valuation guide has been agreed with the pubs sector.
Pubs and bars will benefit from the business rates discount of one third for small retailers from April 2019. This is part of our £1.5bn support package for the high street that was announced at Budget 2018.
All ratepayers are benefitting from recent rates cuts worth more than £13bn in total over the next five years. They include switching from RPI to CPI indexation, making Small Business Rate Relief more generous so that 655,000 of the smallest businesses pay no rates, and providing a £1,000 relief for small and medium pubs in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Budget 2018 also announced a freeze on beer duty, making a typical pint 2p lower than it would otherwise have been.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a preferential rate of duty for draught beer.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
HM Treasury keeps all taxes under review whilst preparing for fiscal events.
A preferential rate of duty for draught beer would result in significant pressure on the public finances, entailing cuts in funding for public services or increased borrowing.
We continue to support the beer industry, as can be seen through our action to freeze beer duty at Autumn Budget 2018, for the second successive year. This freeze has meant the typical pint of beer in 2019 will be 2p lower than it would have been had duty increased with inflation.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to increase the small producer's relief scheme for small cider producers from 7,000 to 30,000 litres per annum.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
HM Treasury has no plans to increase the exemption from cider duty to cider producers over 7,000 litres.
The exemption aims to remove small scale, non-commercial cider production from the duty system and we consider that a limit of 7,000 litres remains appropriate for this.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
What steps he is taking to support economic growth.
Answered by John Glen
The best way to drive economic growth is to raise productivity. Since 2010, this Government has provided over half a trillion pounds in capital investment, increased investment in skills, and reduced taxes for businesses. Lower taxes provide a strong incentive for businesses to invest in raising their productivity. Tax cuts include reductions to business rates worth over £10bn by 2023, freezing fuel duty for 8 years running, increasing R&D tax credits, and cutting corporation tax.