Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to meet small pub landlords to discuss potential closures and job losses within the hospitality sector.

We regularly meet with pub landlords and only last week we held a roundtable with the British Institute for Innkeeping and some of their members.

We are taking decisive action to support pubs and recently announced an additional 15% cut for pubs on top of the permanent reduction in the business rates multiplier for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties announced at the budget. We are also providing £4.3 billion over three years to protect ratepayers from sharp rises in rateable values as well as launching a review of how pubs and hotels are valued for business rates.

Alongside this, we have doubled the Hospitality Support Fund to £10 million and will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy later this year to help reinvigorate our communities.