Skip to main content
Site logo

Main navigation

  • About Gillian Keegan
  • News
  • Contact
  • Gillian Keegan Highlights
  • Media Appearances
  • Podcasts and Profiles
  • Public Speaking
  • Working for Chichester
Site logo

Support Our Pubs

  • Tweet
Bar Stool

January 2019 

I recognise the crucial role that pubs play in the social and economic life of our nation, as well in helping to promote responsible drinking, which is why I am encouraged by the support which the Government has made available to pubs. I myself have been holding drop-ins and pub surgeries to help support them and be accessible to my residents.

Through the Asset of Community Value scheme, communities can list facilities of local importance, including pubs. This means that if a pub owner wishes to sell up, the community has six months to come up with a plan and funding in order to try to save it. I am glad that there are now around 2,000 pubs across England listed as assets of community value.

I am pleased that the £3.6 million 'More than a Pub: The Community Business Support Programme', launched in 2016, is helping to support communities across England to own their local pub. On top of this, the Government continues to support the work of the Pub is The Hub initiative to help landlords diversify and provide essential services, such as village shops and post offices, in order to improve the sustainability of their pub.

To further support pubs, the Chancellor announced in the Autumn Budget 2018 a freeze on beer, cider, and spirit duties, a decision which I welcome. 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 - 90 per cent of pubs in England - and I was pleased to see this extended in the Autumn Budget 2017 for a further year, through to March 2019. In addition, a one-third discount to business rates for pubs and bars with rateable values below £51,000 was introduced in 2018.

On the issue of business rates reform, a fundamental review of business rates was conducted in 2016, after which the Government decided to keep business rates as a property tax. While I understand frustrations with the current system, the review found no consensus among stakeholders on an alternative base for the tax. Respondents to the review also agreed that property based taxes were easy to collect, difficult to avoid, and relatively stable compared to other taxes.

I am proud that this Government remains fully committed to the Pubs Code which helps ensure that tied tenants can operate in a fair environment that allows their businesses to thrive. Legislation requires the Government to review the Pubs Code and the performance of the Pubs Code Adjudicator every three years, with the first review period running from July 2016 to March 2019.

As announced at the 2018 Autumn Budget, duties on beer, cider, and spirits have again be frozen. This year, the price of a typical pint of beer will be 2p lower than if prices had risen with inflation; the price of a pint of cider will be 1p lower, and the price of a bottle of Scotch whisky will be 30p lower. This follows the removal of the beer duty escalator in 2013 and the unprecedented cuts and freezes in beer duty since then, as well as the removal of the duty escalator for spirits, wine and cider in 2014.

News

Gillian on Christmas Activities and Small Business - Chichester Observer

Thursday, 3 December, 2020
Great news this week, as the UK becomes the first country to approve a vaccine to combat coronavirus.

'Eat Out to Help Out' Scheme and Minister for Tourism and Heritage Visits Chichester - Chichester Observer

Thursday, 6 August, 2020
The coronavirus has been tough for all of us in different ways, but for those in the hospitality and tourism sector, it has been devastating.

Supporting Creative Industries and Local Business - Chichester Observer

Thursday, 9 July, 2020
Slowly but surely we are continuing to take steps to open up our economy. On Saturday my husband and I went to The Crate and Apple in Chichester to celebrate their reopening – our first pint in a pub since lockdown began 103 days ago.

Gillian supports high-growth small businesses

Friday, 7 February, 2020
Gillian spent some time getting to know Octopus at a recent Westminster event. Octopus specialises in assisting small businesses with quick and efficient growth; an area in which British small businesses are keen on improving.

In Parliament

  • National Campaign Responses
    • Historic Campaigns
      • Abortion
      • Resignation of Sir Kim Darroch
      • Tethering Campaign: #BreakTheChain
      • Sale of RBS Shares
      • Drones
      • Audio visual information on buses
      • Offensive Weapons Bill
      • NSPCC - Close the Loophole
      • Deportations of Foreign Criminals
      • Draft Enviroment Bill
      • Free School Meals
      • NHS Workforce and Brexit
      • Health and Care Professions Council Fee (EDM 2069)
      • Human Rights Defenders - Azza Soliman
      • Julian Assange
      • Cocoa Production
      • Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs).
      • Paternal Leave
      • Probate Fees
      • Proportional Representation (EDM 591)
      • Prosecutions against army veterans Northern Ireland.
      • Racehorse Welfare Grand National
      • Faulty Tumble Dryers
      • Support Our Pubs
      • The ONE Campaign
      • Bowel Cancer
      • EDM 1829: ban trophy hunting imports into the UK
      • Dubs Amendment
      • DVLA - Assessing Fitness to Drive
      • Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill
      • NHS waiting times
      • Rent 3 Years Tenancy
      • Arthritis
      • Car Manufacturers and Supply Chains
      • Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)
      • Debt relief for developing countries
      • Open Doors World Watch List
      • Arms Exports
      • Fixed Odds Betting Terminals
      • Homelessness - Crisis Report "Everybody In"
      • Highway Code Review Horses
      • Protection of pollinators
      • Section 106 of the Equality Act
      • Caging of pheasants and partridges
      • Digital Services Tax
      • Agriculture Bill
      • Postnatal Mental Health
      • Deportation Kweku Adoboli
      • BBC Impartiality
      • Pensions Dashboard
      • Al Quds and Hezbollah
      • Preserve the Antarctic Ocean

Gillian Keegan

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Gillian
Promoted by Susan Taylor on behalf of Gillian Keegan, both at St John's House, St John's Street, Chichester, PO19 1UU
Copyright 2025 Gillian Keegan . All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree