Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to reduce beer duty in the context of the cost of living crisis.

On 19 December 2022, the Government extended the alcohol duty freeze by six months to align with the implementation of the alcohol duty reforms and reduce the impact of the duty changes on businesses.

Alcohol duty reform will commence on 1 August and for the first time our system of alcohol taxation will include a new Draught Relief, enabling differential duty between the On and Off trade. We had previously stated that Draught Relief would be 5% from August 1st but at Spring Budget 2023, the Chancellor announced that this relief would be raised to 9.2% meaning that the duty on the average pint of draught beer will continue to be frozen from 1 August 2023. Differential duty was not possible when we were members of the EU and in the Budget the Chancellor also announced his Brexit Pub Guarantee – confirming that from August 1st draught duty will always be lower compared to the non-draught equivalent, supporting pubs and the wider hospitality sector.