Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Brexit Pubs Guarantee on the price of spirits in pubs.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government publishes tax information and impact notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes when the policy is final or near final. The summary of impacts from the latest changes to alcohol duty at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increase-in-alcohol-duty-rates/alcohol-duty-uprating
The Government will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes. Which came into place 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts in the alcohol market and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the decline in the number of local pubs on communities.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We understand the many challenges pubs are facing. The Government is supporting pubs with business rates relief, the Brexit Pubs Guarantee, and help with energy costs. We are also working across Government to identify opportunities to ease regulatory and licensing burdens.
We continue to work with businesses, including members of the Hospitality Sector Council, to deliver our 2021 Hospitality Strategy, which aims to support the sector's recovery from COVID-19 and improve longer term resilience.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Pubs Code Adjudicator spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Pubs Code Adjudicator uses the training offer provided on Civil Service Learning. No specific equality and diversity training was procured in 2022-2023. The total staff training costs are published in the Pubs Code Adjudicator’s Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the number of pubs that have closed in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The latest ONS data[1] (as of 19 October 2023) shows the overall number of public houses and bars in Coventry North East, Coventry, the West Midlands and in England for each of the last 5 years (Table 1).
Table 1: Number of Public House and Bar Local Units, 2019 – 2023
Date | Coventry - North East | Coventry | West Midlands | England |
2019 | 35 | 120 | 3,515 | 33,305 |
2020 | 35 | 115 | 3,485 | 33,125 |
2021 | 30 | 115 | 3,415 | 32,430 |
2022 | 35 | 125 | 3,485 | 32,790 |
2023 | 40 | 125 | 3,505 | 32,665 |
Business closures (VAT de-registrations) are not available at this level of industrial and geographical detail. However, the Insolvency Service[2] do publish monthly data on the total number of insolvencies in the food and beverage services sector in England and Wales from 2019 to 2022 (Table 2).
Table 2: Food and beverage service activities insolvencies, England and Wales, 2019 – 2022[3]
Date | Food and beverage service activities insolvencies |
2019 | 2,150 |
2020 | 1,542 |
2021 | 1,542 |
2022 | 2,523 |
[1] ONS Business counts via NOMIS. Data relates to SIC 56.302 – Public houses and bars.
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-insolvency-statistics-september-2023
[3] This data represents the sum of monthly insolvencies per year for SIC 56 - Food and beverage service activities.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support the hospitality and tourism sectors.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government believes that pubs make an important contribution to our culture, fostering a sense of place and community, and to the UK economy.
The Government is aware that the high street faces long-term challenges and is committed to supporting the businesses that make our high streets and town centres successful. Therefore, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including:
Furthermore, to support pubs, our 'Brexit Pubs Guarantee,' confirms that the duty on a draught pint will always be lower than its equivalent in a supermarket. And the new alcohol duty system implemented in August of this year included a new Draught Relief that provides a significant duty discount on beers below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) sold in containers of 20 litres or more in the on-trade.
The Community Ownership Fund has awarded £49.3 million to 195 projects across the UK, including rural pubs, with £35 million allocated to 131 projects across England, £6.2 million allocated to 28 projects in Scotland, £4 million to 18 projects in Wales and £4.1 million to 18 projects in Northern Ireland.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to amend planning regulations for pubs through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government recognises that British pubs lie at the heart of our communities and will often be a much-valued community asset, which is why through the community ownership fund, we have protected 33 pubs with £8 million of funding from the UK Government.
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs), contained within the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, will be a permissive power for local authorities, which they can use alongside other regeneration tools at their discretion. The Government has recently consulted on several areas of HSRA policy.
The consultation sought, in part, views on the introduction of two new permitted development rights that would facilitate the change of a premises' planning use in certain circumstances. The consultation closed on 7 July, and we are currently analysing responses. As such it would be inappropriate to pre-empt the outcome of the consultation.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposals in the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill on high street rental auctions on pubs.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government recognises that British pubs lie at the heart of our communities and will often be a much-valued community asset, which is why through the community ownership fund, we have protected 33 pubs with £8 million of funding from the UK Government.
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs), contained within the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, will be a permissive power for local authorities, which they can use alongside other regeneration tools at their discretion. The Government has recently consulted on several areas of HSRA policy.
The consultation sought, in part, views on the introduction of two new permitted development rights that would facilitate the change of a premises' planning use in certain circumstances. The consultation closed on 7 July, and we are currently analysing responses. As such it would be inappropriate to pre-empt the outcome of the consultation.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the level of alcohol duty on the financial viability of pubs.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government publishes tax information and impact notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes when the policy is final or near final. The summary of impacts from the latest changes to alcohol duty at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increase-in-alcohol-duty-rates/alcohol-duty-uprating
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what role public houses have in his Department's leveling up policies; and what steps his Department is taking to utilise them.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Community Ownership Fund has awarded funding to protect a wide range of community assets that are important to communities, including £8 million for 33 Pubs.
We recognise that Pubs can help to form vital parts of our social fabric and boost pride in place by bringing people together and help to tackle loneliness and social isolation.
Pubs provide a range of services for the communities they serve, and the Community Ownership Fund helps local groups to secure the futures of pubs in their communities.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps they have taken to support hospitality and tourism in rural areas.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government believes that pubs make an important contribution to our culture, fostering a sense of place and community, and to the UK economy.
The Government is aware that the high street faces long-term challenges and is committed to supporting the businesses that make our high streets and town centres successful. Therefore, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including:
Furthermore, to support pubs, our 'Brexit Pubs Guarantee,' confirms that the duty on a draught pint will always be lower than its equivalent in a supermarket. And the new alcohol duty system implemented in August of this year included a new Draught Relief that provides a significant duty discount on beers below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) sold in containers of 20 litres or more in the on-trade.
The Community Ownership Fund has awarded £49.3 million to 195 projects across the UK, including rural pubs, with £35 million allocated to 131 projects across England, £6.2 million allocated to 28 projects in Scotland, £4 million to 18 projects in Wales and £4.1 million to 18 projects in Northern Ireland.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.