Pubs to get support package after business rates backlash

The Government has announced that business rates bills for pubs and music venues in England will be reduced by 15% from April and will not see an increase for two years.

Treasury Secretary Dan Tomlinson said the three-year package was worth £1,650 for the average pub.

It follows a backlash against the November Budget, which saw many people face huge increases to their business rates bills and more than a thousand pubs banning Labor MPs from their premises.

UK Hospitality has called for the support package to be expanded, warning that hotels, restaurants and other businesses in the sector are also at risk.

According to the government, the package will cost £80 million in its first year, with the value for the next two years to be determined by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Tomlinson said pubs were “the cornerstone of many communities” and the government wanted to “go further” in supporting pubs after the number of pubs had fallen by around 7,000 since 2010.

The government has also promised to review how pubs are valued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) ahead of the next revaluation in 2029.

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride dismissed the announcement, describing it as “sticking” and asking: “Is this it?”

“After weeks of telling our local bars that help was on the way, this is all they got.”

He said the measures would “only delay the pain for a while” and said he was “desperate as bills for thousands of businesses soar.”

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said the financial aid still left pubs facing higher business rates bills and “did nothing” for other high street businesses.

He called for the government to increase business rates discounts for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and an “urgent” year-long VAT cut for the hospitality sector.

UK Hospitality, which represents the wider industry, said the measures “are a solution to a serious problem facing pubs”.

“The reality is that we still have restaurants and hotels facing significant challenges as a result of successive Budgets,” said Chairman Kate Nicholls.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said it would “remove the immediate financial threat posed by accelerating business costs and help keep the doors open for many”.

BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said landlords across the country would “breathe a sigh of relief” but the organisation’s focus would now turn to long-term reforms to business rates.

Bosses across the hospitality industry have warned they face a rise in business rates bills from April, despite adjustments in the Chancellor’s November Budget.

This is because despite the government reducing multipliers (a figure used to calculate how much businesses pay in rates), many pubs, restaurants and hotels still see their bills rise due to the revaluation of their properties, and the new values ​​are often much higher.