Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of further measures to support (a) SME, (b) independent and (c) other wine and spirits businesses with high-street presence in the context of (i) the increase in alcohol duty brought in in August 2023 and (ii) the end of business rates relief at the end of the 2023-24 financial year.

The Government has undertaken the biggest reform of alcohol duties for over 140 years and has introduced a new, simplified alcohol duty system based on the common-sense principle of taxing alcohol by strength. The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the reforms and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.

As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.

At Autumn Statement 2022 the Government announced an increased 75% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2023-24. This is a tax cut worth over £2 billion for around 230,000 RHL businesses, to support the high street and protect small shops and pubs.

Decisions on future business rates support will be made in due course.