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        All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group Inquiry:

        Pubs' Business Rates






        REPORT  LAUNCHED: 21/3/22


        The All-party Parliamentary Beer Group (APPBG)'s inquiry into  pubs’ business rates was launched on 1 February 2022. Following receipt of written evidence an oral evidence gathering session was held on 23rd February.  The report is being launched on 21st March.

         

        External link opens in new tab or windowThe report is available to download here.


        External link opens in new tab or windowThe video launching the report is available here.


        The inquiry's terms of reference were:


        To understand:

        • The impact of business rates on pubs’ operations in England and the efficacy of the valuation process and appeals system;
        • The fairness of business rates on a sectoral basis;
        • The impact of the Government’s current proposals for reform.

         

        And to explore:

        • Hospitality as a catalyst for inward investment, high street regeneration and employment and skills growth;
        • Options for business rates reform to recognise this and pubs’ wider contribution locally and nationally, including rebalancing the burden of business rates between the digital and physical economies.



        Notes:

         

        All-party groups lack the formal scrutiny powers of a Select Committee but a group may consider any matter which falls within its remit.  Previous inquiries by the APPBG include: Beer Tax 1995, Licensing Law Reform 1999, Community Pubs 2008, Beer Tax Fraud 2012, Unlocking Pubs’ Potential 2020 and Caskenomics: the future of cask beer 2021.

         

        The APPBG was established in 1993 and is one of the largest APP groups. Its objectives are  "To broaden recognition of the enormous contribution of brewing and pubs to the UK economy from grain to glass - and to celebrate the unique role that beer and pubs play in our society”.

         

        For further information please contact Paul Hegarty by email or mobile: 07808 096250



        EVIDENCE SESSION 


        An evidence session on 23rd February, conducted over Zoom and chaired by Mike Wood MP, heard from:


        George Barnes, Property and Services Director, Shepherd Neame

        Stephen Patterson, Chief Executive, Newcastle BID

        Alan Colston, Chief Valuer, Valuation Office Agency

        Jonathan Werran, Chief Executive, Localis

        James Baer, MD, Amber Taverns

        Roxane Marjoram, Co-owner, Gusto Pronto

        Cassie Davison, Licensee, Gate Hangs Well


        External link opens in new tab or windowClick here to view the recording.



        VIEW  WRITTEN EVIDENCE


        The following individuals and organisations submitted written evidence:

        External link opens in new tab or windowJW Lees

        External link opens in new tab or windowPig & Whistle, Wandsworth

        External link opens in new tab or windowPubs Advisory Service

        External link opens in new tab or windowSnowdrop Inn (via PAS)

        External link opens in new tab or windowBath Pub Company

        External link opens in new tab or windowPub operator, Nottinghamshire

        External link opens in new tab or windowPub is the Hub

        External link opens in new tab or windowThe Licensed Trade Charity

        External link opens in new tab or windowWells & Co

        External link opens in new tab or windowThe Red Lion & Sun, Highgate Village

        External link opens in new tab or windowForum of British Pubs

        External link opens in new tab or windowIsaacs on the Quay, Ipswich

        External link opens in new tab or windowIan Fozard

        External link opens in new tab or windowCrown Inn, Oakengates

        External link opens in new tab or windowJolly Cricketers, Seer Green

        External link opens in new tab or windowCamra

        External link opens in new tab or windowIndependent operator, Shropshire

        External link opens in new tab or windowDave Mountford

        External link opens in new tab or windowBritish Beer & Pub Association

        External link opens in new tab or windowPubs All-party Parliamentary Group

        External link opens in new tab or windowAdmiral Taverns

        External link opens in new tab or windowPunch Pubs & Co

        External link opens in new tab or windowSaracens Head Inn, Symonds Yat

        External link opens in new tab or windowTrust Inns

        External link opens in new tab or windowStonegate Group

        External link opens in new tab or windowGerald Eve

        External link opens in new tab or windowBritish Institute of Innkeeping (BII)

        External link opens in new tab or windowTom Kerridge

        External link opens in new tab or windowStar Pubs & Bars

        External link opens in new tab or windowUKHospitality

        External link opens in new tab or windowRochdale case study of investment

        External link opens in new tab or windowThe Three Crowns, Bushey

        Video External link opens in new tab or windowCase study of pub as community asset



        Previous APPBG Inquiries


        Column

        Caskenomics: The Future of Cask Beer


        The All Party Parliamentary Beer Group (APPBG)  External link opens in new tab or windowreport into the future of cask beer was launched on 2 June 2021,  calling on the Government to deliver urgent support to save pubs and breweries.


        The report highlights the devastating impact of the Covid  pandemic on  pubs and the wider hospitality sector – and correspondingly on the sales of cask and draught beer.  Recommendations include:   

         

        • Government to reduce the overall burden on brewers and pubs through lower overall duty, VAT and business rates and to urgently consider the specific merits of a lower rate of duty for on-sales of draught beers to encourage footfall back into pubs
        • Government must stick to the roadmap for reopening and run a public information campaign to restore consumer confidence that pubs are safe
        • Government to consider targeted COVID debt-forgiveness and measures to ameliorate the impact of crown debt
        • Industry to convene a working group to capitalise on the possibilities for cask beers as an environmentally friendly, locally focussed, premium and uniquely British product
        • Government to incentivise and/or support investment in the UK’s hop sector, to tide it over a period of unprecedented uncertainty.


        The attached  External link opens in new tab or windowvideo clip is of Mike Wood MP, the Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group with Kelly McCarthy, the licensee of Ye Old Sun Inn near Tadcaster who gave evidence to the Inquiry.



         




        A virtual hearing was held on 15 April 2021, chaired by APPBG chair Mike Wood MP.


        The following witnesses gave evidence:

        • Emma Gilleland, Director of Brewing at Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company
        • Ed Mason, Managing Director at Five Points Brewing Company
        • Jonathan Neame, Chief Executive of Shepherd Neame
        • Phil Tate, Group Chief Executive, CGA
        • Peter Brown, Beer writer
        • Ellie Hudspith, Senior Campaigns Manager CAMRA
        • Dr Pau Salsas, Managing Consultant, Europe Economics
        • Kelly McCarthly, Ye Old Sun Inn, Colton & BII

        The External link opens in new tab or windowevidence session can be viewed here



        Evidence was requested on any aspect of brewing, supplying, selling or consuming cask beer, and particularly on the experiences of the past 12 months. The following written evidence was received by the inquiry panel and can be downloaded here:

        External link opens in new tab or windowArkell's
        External link opens in new tab or windowAsahi
        External link opens in new tab or windowBBPA
        External link opens in new tab or windowBII
        External link opens in new tab or windowBlack Sheep
        External link opens in new tab or windowBlack Sheep 2
        External link opens in new tab or windowBlack Hole brewery
        External link opens in new tab or windowBudweiser
        External link opens in new tab or windowCask Marque
        External link opens in new tab or windowCGA (data pack)
        External link opens in new tab or windowCGA (overview)
        External link opens in new tab or windowDriftwood Spars Brewery
        External link opens in new tab or windowJohn Ellis, Crown Inn
        External link opens in new tab or windowFreshpour
        External link opens in new tab or windowGreene King
        External link opens in new tab or windowHawthorn
        External link opens in new tab or windowHeineken
        External link opens in new tab or windowHogsback
        External link opens in new tab or windowTim Hughes, Licensee
        External link opens in new tab or windowLincoln Green
        External link opens in new tab or windowLoch Leven Brewery
        External link opens in new tab or windowMolson Coors
        External link opens in new tab or windowMoor Beer
        External link opens in new tab or windowMurphy and Son
        External link opens in new tab or windowRobinsons
        External link opens in new tab or windowRoger Protz
        External link opens in new tab or windowSIBA
        External link opens in new tab or windowPunch
        External link opens in new tab or windowRobinsons
        External link opens in new tab or windowTheakstons
        External link opens in new tab or windowUKHospitality


        Column

        Unlocking Pubs' Potential

         

        MPs call on Government to see pubs as solution not problem

         

        A report published today (26 February 2020) by Parliament’s largest cross-party issue group calls emphatically for the Government to wake up to the potential of pubs in boosting Britain’s economic and social wellbeing.

         

        Ahead of the Budget, the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group urges policy makers to understand pubs’ potential in spearheading high street revival and delivering wide-ranging policy initiatives. The report calls for a fundamental review of business rates and a reduction in beer duty to release this potential for the sake of jobs, tourism and the cultural and social enrichment of Britons.

         

        Launching the report, the group’s Chair, Mike Wood MP (Con, Dudley South) said: “As government charts a new course for national wellbeing, it’s time to wake up to the widespread initiatives pubs can help deliver.”

         

        “During this Inquiry we heard how well-trained licensees are playing an unsung role in supporting the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities; pubs’ investments are regenerating employment and enterprise prospects around the country showing they can be a critical anchor in bringing left behind communities back to life. But if we’re to take full advantage of all that the nation’s pubs offer as a force for good, we must first tackle their disproportionate tax bills.”

         

        Inquiry panellist and Labour peer, Lord Roy Kennedy, explained: “Pubs are one of the few remaining places where strangers can rub shoulders and trade opinions – a precious asset in an increasingly polarised society. They are also one of the unsung props of the UK’s social care system; helping tackle loneliness, providing meals for the elderly, coffee clubs for young mothers, and answering the needs of dementia carers.” 

         

        “We have an extraordinary community resource in our pubs: as community hubs, sports clubs, creative incubators, tourist attractions, fundraisers and as the ‘third place‘ in people’s lives.  They’re the UK’s real ‘social networks’ but are paying 34% of their turnover in tax, compared to Facebook’s reported 1.7%. If government is looking for ways to boost hard hit communities and revive national wellbeing, our message is clear: act now to unleash pubs’ potential.”

         

        “As our inquiry learnt, pubs are paying more in tax per pound of turnover than any other outlet on the high street and any other sector of the economy. These costs are then being compounded by competition from lower priced alcohol from supermarkets.”

         

        Among its principal recommendations, the report calls for:

        • A review of business rates to consider how best to shift the burden of tax away from property-based businesses.
        • Pending the governments’ fundamental review of business rates, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) must be better resourced to understand pubs’ business models with additional resource dedicated to the appeals process until the current logjam has been cleared.
        • All pubs to be able to claim the first £52k in rate relief proposed for smaller pubs.
        • Government to seize the opportunity provided by Brexit to review both intent and impact of duty.  The UK’s brewers are a leading manufacturing success story and its pubs are a crucial part of British culture, tourism and society.  Government should assess tax and duty in a broad context including impacts on employment, stimulus for home grown products, for low carbon products and health considerations including responsible drinking and personal wellbeing.
        • Local authorities to understand pubs’ potential in regenerating high streets and communities, and to build mutually beneficial partnerships to maximise benefits.
        • The pubs sector and government to address outdated notions of employment possibilities under the auspices of the new Tourism Sector Deal.

         

        For more information: Paul Hegarty, Honorary Secretary, All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, External link opens in new tab or windowpaul@beergroup.co.uk or 07808 096250

         


        Hard copies of the report are available from marietta@beergroup.co.uk.






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