16 Mar 2023
The government has failed to support the hospitality industry in its latest Budget, a St Albans publican has claimed.
Sean Hughes, landlord of The Boot and Dylan’s, and co-founder of the Save St Albans Pubs campaign group, says local venues are actually far worse off after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spring statement.
“The Government had a good opportunity to listen to hospitality bodies, breweries and publicans to put forward a reduction in VAT to at least 12.5% for 12 months but instead went ahead with cutting the energy support package.
“This was a lifeline to pubs and hospitality with pubs in St Albans now paying an average £30-40K per year in utilities alone.
“The VAT reduction would have also helped soften the huge blow on food prices which have increased 100-200% in the past six months. Together with increased staff costs due to Brexit – if you can actually find any staff – pubs in St Albans are far worse off after this budget.
“The beer duty freeze was essential but is offset by the huge increase in VAT receipts from struggling pubs and their suppliers who are paying record amounts in tax.
“We have called, and continue to call for a fundamental review on business rates and we know that the Government recognises the need for them to be changed and welcome the essential reduction in those crazy rates. The Government has had since 2017 to sort business rates out, but continues to ignore the urgency and another sticking plaster is whacked on in the hope to push it down the road for 12 months.
“On behalf of the pubs of St Albans we would like to thank the residents for continuing to support their local. In a city swamped with chains, the independent pub needs your support more than ever.”
St Albans MP Daisy Cooper has accused the government of being out of touch with how difficult the cost-of-living crisis is for her constituents.
“Whether it’s on the doorstep, in my surgeries, or just when I’m chatting to people out and about, the message is the same: household bills are still giving people sleepless nights.
“The Liberal Democrats would have gone much further to reduce average energy bills by £500. Instead, after the Conservative’s budget, household energy bills will be nearly double what they were in 2021 and that’s even before families are clobbered by Conservative stealth tax rises.
“Local businesses have also been in touch overnight to see they are devastated by the lack of help. By axing the energy support scheme, the government is cutting off a vital lifeline for small businesses, especially for energy-intensive hospitality businesses like our cherished pubs. And with no action at all to fix the broken business rates system that plagues our high streets, the future remains incredibly uncertain.
“On childcare, the devil is in the detail. Even with policies stolen from the Lib Dems, there’s a catch. We’ve long campaigned to extend nursery places so they’re available for children from nine months, but most of the plan announced this week won’t be put in place for years – well after the next General Election – and the money pledged falls short of what the sector says it needs to.
“Liberal Democrats would have used a proper windfall tax on energy company profits to cut energy bills by £500 for the average household, to support businesses to keep inflation down, and invest in local health services.
“By failing to do any of this, this budget shows just how out of touch the Conservatives really are.”
But Clare De Silva, Conservative Parliamentary spokesperson for St Albans, insisted residents would actually be much better-off as a result of the Budget, which she said pledged over £94bn of investment over this year and next, and was a package of support equivalent to £3,300 for every household in the country.
“This budget will make a huge difference to working families in particular and I am pleased that the Conservative government is firmly on the side of working people, families and businesses.
“Expanding the free 30 hours childcare scheme to one and two year-olds with £4 billion of extra investment will give parents in St Albans and across the country more choice when it comes to balancing work and family.
“It will go a long way to improving the accessibility and affordability of childcare and I am delighted that the government is really listening to working parents in this way.
“Equally the extension of the Energy Price Guarantee will keep energy bills for a typical household at £2,500 until the end of June when prices are forecasted to fall. Many constituents have told me of their concerns around the cost of living.
“Both the new support with childcare and the cap on energy bills will help considerably. In addition to this, freezing fuel duty will bring peace of mind and pounds in the pockets of many St Albans residents.
“Our wonderful pubs and restaurants in St Albans will benefit from a freeze on duty for draught beer, and the business tax cut worth £25 billion will be an enormous relief for many of our businesses.
“Also, as someone who has spent most of my career working in the charity and community sector, I am delighted that a new fund worth £100 million will be earmarked for the charity sector. For groups working in the heart of the community in St Albans, this will be encouraging news indeed.”
