I recognise the crucial role that pubs play in the social and economic life of our community here in Cheltenham, and the devastating impact of COVID-19.
Significant financial support is rightly being provided for hospitality businesses. It is reassuring that the Chancellor has unveiled further economic support for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, including pubs, in light of the new lockdown restrictions. New one-off top-up grants have been announced, worth up to £9,000 per property, to help businesses through to the spring.
For those businesses not eligible for the grants, a £594 million discretionary fund is being made available by the Government as a matter of urgency.
The new one-off grants come in addition to billions of pounds of existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 per month for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen. Here in Cheltenham, the total package of financial support provided by the Government is estimated at over £260m and rising.
Turning to beer duty, in 2013, the Government took the decision to end the beer duty escalator, and beer duty has been frozen or cut several times since then. Duty on spirits has been frozen over the past two years. As a result of these changes, a typical pint is cheaper than it would have been had these measures not been introduced.
I welcomed the announcement that for only the second time in 20 years every alcohol duty has been frozen, meaning that this freeze covers duty on spirits, beer, wine, and cider.
There is a broad recognition of the need to reform the current duty system to support the alcoholic drinks and pubs sector in the longer term, and on 1 October, a call for evidence for reform of Alcohol Duty was published. I look forward to studying the results once they are published.
In the meantime, I will ensure my colleagues at the Treasury are aware of the points that have been raised.
