Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the level of revenue from cider.

Forecasts of the revenues from taxes and duties are provided by the OBR as part of their Economic and Fiscal Outlook series. Alcohol duties are also kept under review and the impact of a change to cider duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effects on the economy.

Details of the revenue from cider duty are published regularly by HMRC in their Alcohol Bulletin, which is available on the GOV.UK website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/alcohol-bulletin

To support businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has introduced a very significant package of assistance, worth billions, including extensions to the furlough scheme, COVID-19 loan schemes and grant support. Specific support has also been introduced to support cider makers, through a freeze on cider duty announced at Budget 2021. This means cider duty has been frozen in five of the previous six Budgets.