Greg Mulholland tables early day motion on business rates
The EDM urges the Government to follow Scotland, which has just introduced a one-year cap on rates increases at 12% and which the Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) says could save pubs £6m.
Mulholland told The Morning Advertiser (MA): "The proposed rises in business rates for many pubs are both outrageous but also potentially disastrous and if the Government pushes ahead with this they will be directly responsible for the loss of pubs up and down the country."
'Paying considerably more'
He added: "Pubs have already overall been paying considerably more than their fair share in business rates, but some of the new increased rates are ludicrous and pay no relation to the reality of the trading environment they face.
"The effect of these changes would be to increase even further the overall amount paid by pubs and the tax burden on them when what we need, if the Government values pubs, is the opposite."
The British Pub Confederation will shortly deliver a letter to the Government demanding a cap on proposed rises and rate relief for pubs, The MA understands.
"We also need a proper root and branch overhaul of the business rates system and one that stops the hugely unfair advantage given to online retailers compared to those who keep our towns and villages alive such as shopkeepers and publicans," Mulholland added.
"The Government quietly dropped the whole review of the business rates system so must now do this as soon as possible.
'Community role'
"The British Pub Confederation will argue strongly that pubs need to be taxed in a different, fairer way that reflects the reality both of the business and the unique community role pubs play."
A letter signed by multiple senior hospitality executives was published in The Telegraph this week (22 February), urging the government to support hospitality businesses rather than penalise their success.
It said: “Immediate rate relief for pubs and restaurants – similar to the £60m recently granted to broadband suppliers – would deliver tangible assistance at this critical time and send a positive message to the industry.”
The full early day motion (EDM 961):
That this House is deeply concerned about the planned increases in business rates and the damage they will do to many small businesses; notes the impact that these changes will have on pubs, with some pubs seeing rises of up to 300 per cent and with London pubs seeing an average rise of 43 per cent in business rates; further notes with dismay that the calculations that have created these proposed rises are based on turnover figures from 2008; notes that the situation facing pubs has changed dramatically since that time so that these figures are now hugely unrealistic and such rate rises would cause many pubs to become unviable; calls on the Government to take urgent action to cap business rate rises for pubs and restaurants as has been announced in Scotland; further calls on the Government to halt this ill-considered business rate rise until a full and proper re-evaluation has taken place which takes in to account the current state of the economy and in the pub sector; notes that pubs currently pay over five times their fair share of business rates; calls on the Government to recognise the important role pubs play in communities and local economies and to acknowledge this when making future calculations for business rates for pubs; believes that in the longer term pubs need a different form of business taxation that is not predicate on turnover or size of a pub, neither of which work for pubs and threatens otherwise viable pub businesses.
