A climbdown on forthcoming increases to the business rates bill faced by pubs in England is set to be announced by the government in the next few days.The government is expected to say it will make changes to how pubs’ business rates are calculated, resulting in smaller rises to bills.Treasury officials say they have recognised the financial difficulties facing many pubs after sharp rises in the rateable value of their premises.The move follows pressure from landlords and industry groups that included more than 1,000 pubs banning Labour MPs from their premises.The Treasury is also thought to be ready to relax licensing rules to allow longer opening and more pavement areas for drinking.In her November Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves scaled back business rate discounts that have been in force since the pandemic from 75% to 40% – and announced that there would be no discount at all from April.That, combined with big upward adjustments to rateable values of pub premises, left landlords with the prospect of much higher rates bills.A campaign to dilute the impact of these rises has been gaining traction in recent weeks, with pub owners and industry groups lobbying for more support.On Wednesday Labour MPs called on the government to rethink its support for the industry.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, writing in The Telegraph, said she would abolish business rates for thousands of pubs altogether …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnA climbdown on forthcoming increases to the business rates bill faced by pubs in England is set to be announced by the government in the next few days.The government is expected to say it will make changes to how pubs’ business rates are calculated, resulting in smaller rises to bills.Treasury officials say they have recognised the financial difficulties facing many pubs after sharp rises in the rateable value of their premises.The move follows pressure from landlords and industry groups that included more than 1,000 pubs banning Labour MPs from their premises.The Treasury is also thought to be ready to relax licensing rules to allow longer opening and more pavement areas for drinking.In her November Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves scaled back business rate discounts that have been in force since the pandemic from 75% to 40% – and announced that there would be no discount at all from April.That, combined with big upward adjustments to rateable values of pub premises, left landlords with the prospect of much higher rates bills.A campaign to dilute the impact of these rises has been gaining traction in recent weeks, with pub owners and industry groups lobbying for more support.On Wednesday Labour MPs called on the government to rethink its support for the industry.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, writing in The Telegraph, said she would abolish business rates for thousands of pubs altogether …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
