Pubs are a vital part of this country’s history, tradition and culture. For centuries they have been serving not only pints but their communities, which is why I was delighted to become the new Community Pubs Minister last month.
As someone who enjoys a pint or two, I recognise the role pubs play, not just in society, but for our economy with the most recent industry figures showing that every pub contributes an average of £80,000 towards its local economy.
Proud
My home town of Keighley in West Yorkshire boasts 62 public houses and seven local breweries including the famous Timothy Taylor Brewery. At the other end of the scale there is the multi-award-winning Ilkley Brewery, which at little over five years old, produces some of the most exciting craft beers in the country. Here the industry provides more than a thousand local jobs of which hundreds are for young, local people. That is a reputation to be proud of.
The national picture is equally impressive. The pubs industry employs hundreds of thousands of predominantly young people and contributes £21bn to the economy.
This Government has cut business taxes for community pubs including national insurance and tax on live music, as well as abolishing the beer and alcohol duty escalators. Beer duty has now been cut in successive Budgets.
Sustainable
Meanwhile, the Government’s funding of the Plunkett Foundation and Pub is the Hub is helping pubs be more community-minded, therefore protecting them from dips in revenue and making them more sustainable in the long term. These moves have saved many pubs from closure and led to a rise in the number of pubs owned and run by their own communities.
The Localism Act has also supported this work — with it, we armed communities across the country with a new ‘right to bid’ so they can step in and list their favourite local asset should it be threatened with closure or sale. In the case of pubs, this means listing your local as an asset of community value before time is called. Should it then be put up for sale, the community now has the chance to keep it in their hands before it can be sold to other bidders.
I make no attempt to disguise my excitement at having the job — even though I was assured by the great and the good of the industry that as Community Pubs Minister I would be “hailed and abused in equal measure”. I will be your champion across Whitehall and beyond.
The Great British pub has a coveted and historic place in our society — it is my job to protect it and make sure it is here to stay.
Cheers!