Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps her Department has taken to help support (a) pubs, (b) restaurants, (c) cafes and (d) other parts of the hospitality sector.

My Department meets regularly with the sector through the Hospitality Sector Council to understand the challenges businesses are facing and help build the sector’s resilience.

In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a business rates support package worth £4.3 billion over the next five years to support small businesses. The small business multiplier will be frozen for a fourth consecutive year, and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief will be extended. It should be noted that the support monies provided for Scotland and Wales were not fully passed on to relevant businesses as intended.

At the Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that the government will freeze alcohol duty from 1 August 2024 until 1 February 2025, extending the six-month freeze announced at Autumn Statement 2023.

In addition, as part of our efforts to make regulation more effective and less burdensome for businesses, we are consulting on making it easier for bars and pubs to serve you a drink on a terrace.