I wholly recognise the role that pubs play in the social and economic life of our country which is why I am encouraged by the support which has been made available to pubs and the Governments manifesto commitment to further cut taxes for small businesses.
Through the Asset of Community Value Scheme, communities can list facilities of local importance, including pubs. This would mean that if a pub owner wished to sell their business, the community has six months to come up with a plan and funding in order to try to prevent its closure. There are currently 2,000 pubs which are listed as assets of community value across England, with Broxtowe’s White Lion Pub and Crown Inn among them.
To further support our pubs, a freeze on beer, cider and spirit duties was extended as part of this year’s budget. The Spring Budget 2017 also provided a £1,000 discount on business rates bills in 2017 for pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000 which accounts for 90% of pubs across England and I was pleased to see this extended to run for a further year from 1st March 2020.
You may also be pleased to hear that a one-third discount to business rates for pubs and bars with rateable values below £51,000 was introduced in 2018 and has now been increased to a 50 per cent discount for 2020-21. In addition to this, up to 18,000 pubs are expected to benefit from the new Pubs Relief introduced this April, removing £1,000 off the business rates bills of qualifying small pubs.
19th May 2020
