Beer Duty Escalator

Justin Tomlinson Excerpts

Thursday 1st November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Charlotte Leslie]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend has made an extremely good point. A tourist’s picture of Britain always includes the beautiful and the great British pub. The trouble is that once such institutions have gone, they have gone for ever. We are currently overseeing the decimation of the keystones of our culture and heritage, which not only have social and morale value, but are massively important to our economy.

I am probably not the only Member present whose first job was in a pub. In my case it was the Fox, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Filton and Bradley Stoke (Jack Lopresti). I was not brilliant behind the bar, so I moved swiftly on.

[Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a very interesting speech. She has just mentioned first jobs in pubs. Having spoken to representatives of my local family brewery, Arkell’s, I know that they are crying out for young people—graduates, and those with hospitality management skills—who have the potential to become pub landlords. The pub sector is very important for young people.

[Charlotte Leslie]

That, too, is a good point. More than a million people are employed in the pub industry in this country, and more than half of them are young people. Pub employment not only constitutes an important first step on the jobs ladder, but provides a great opportunity for career progression. People learn a multitude of skills that will be useful in future careers.

I think that the Government have done quite well. The appointment of a pubs Minister was a very good move—I am sure that we all wish to pay tribute to the previous pubs Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill), for the work that he did, and to welcome the new Minister—and, having produced the Live Music Act 2012, localism and the right to buy, we are now making progress with minimum pricing. All that is good stuff. However, pubs are still closing at the rate of about 12 a week, and we need to do more.

Given that beer represents about 60% of sales in community pubs, it is not very surprising that the beer duty escalator is having such a dramatic impact. It is true that there are other factors, such as social and demographic changes and the fact that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds North West pointed out, it is so easy to sell a pub and turn it into a Tesco—we have probably all seen that happen—and issues involving pub companies and pub ties also need to be considered. However, the escalator is a major component of the problem. Given that all the beneficial elements are being stripped away as pubs close, and that beer sales fell by 5.6% in the third quarter of this year, it is hardly surprising that the Treasury’s own figures show that the escalator is not doing what it is supposed to do and raising funds.