Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about support for pubs.

I appreciate your concerns on this issue. Pubs are a vital part of our social fabric in communities throughout the country. They also play an important role in our national economy. Before the pandemic, the sector was supporting 900,000 jobs, generating £23 billion in economic value and providing £13 billion in tax revenues.

I know, however, that pubs have also been hit extremely hard by the crisis and over a year of extremely difficult trading conditions and tough restrictions. And even as the economy reopens businesses will continue to face difficulties and a long road to recovery. It is therefore vital that we ensure economic support helps them through the crisis and beyond.

Unfortunately, I am concerned that the Government has failed to understand that public health restrictions needed to be matched by fair economic measures. For example, even as the lifting of restrictions was delayed by four weeks, the Government was forcing a £50 million bill on struggling businesses, by requiring them to contribute 10% to the cost of furlough – an average of £122.80 per employee furloughed – and to pay 34% towards their monthly business rates irrespective of their trading status – a cost of £500 for the average bar.

It was for this reason that I supported calls for the Government to delay the increased employer contribution to the furlough scheme and to learn lessons from the Welsh Government, which gave the vast majority of businesses 100% business rates relief for the course of this financial year. I also believe the Government needs to act on the debt built up by businesses such as pubs during the pandemic by bringing forward a proper plan for debt restructuring. I am concerned that by failing to take such actions, the Government has risked pushing more firms over the edge.

Thank you once again for contacting me. Supporting pubs is the right thing to do both morally and economically – I can therefore assure you that I will continue to support efforts to ensure they do not lose out because of the sacrifices they have made to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP