Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to prevent pub closures.

The government remains committed to supporting pubs and we have taken action to this end – including cuts to business rates worth over £10 billion by 2023 and a £1,000 business rates discounts for small and medium pubs.

Furthermore, at Autumn Budget 2017 the government announced a freeze to all alcohol duties. Cuts to alcohol taxes since 2013 mean the average tax on a pint of beer is estimated to be 12p lower than it otherwise would have been, showing the government’s continued support for the country’s local pubs.