It has also urged him to scrap the annual duty escalator which requires beer duty to rise at 2% above the RPI rate of inflation. Duty has already risen by 35% since 2008 and the imposition of the escalator could see beer tax rise by a further 7%.
CAMRA claims that recent duty increases have failed to generate significant increases in the beer duty paid to Government. Between tax years 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 the beer revenue received by Government only increased by 1% in real terms despite the 35% increase in the rate of beer duty.
CAMRA claims that all the duty rises have succeeded in doing is to shift the consumption of beer from the responsible, supervised environment of the pub to buying alcohol in supermarkets for consumption at home.
The consumer group has also called on Government to consider further measures to help support the pub. These include introducing a 50% business rate relief for pubs which are at the centre of their community, a reduced rate of duty for draught beer sold in pubs and a lower rate of VAT for food and drink served in pubs.
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