'Pubs don't want state handouts', says government minister
A government minister has said pubs "don't want state handouts" after scrapping a multi-million pound package to help communities run their local.
Bob Neill, local government minister, made the statement after it emerged that a £4m package, announced under the previous government, had been withdrawn.
"Pubs don't want state handouts - but they do want to be able to compete on a level playing field, without reams of red tape preventing them from making a living," he said.
Labour's pubs minister John Healey unveiled the measures in March, which included £3.3m of funding to help residents run up to 50 community outlets, through the Plunkett Foundation.
Peter Couchman, chief executive of the Plunkett Foundation, said: "This is devastating news for each community which had hoped to save their local as a co-operative.
"The government has turned its back on communities who were looking to take more responsibility over their everyday lives."
In response the foundation has called an emergency pub summit, to see how communities can help run their local pub with the help of co-operative organisations.
Meanwhile, Pub is the Hub, which helps pubs diversify, was promised more than £1m of support, to help pay for seven full-time advisors.
Pub is the Hub director John Longden said he was "disappointed" but not surprised by the news. "We have just been getting on with our normal work, we have done six schemes in the last few months," he said.
Longden said raising funds was not so much of an issue, but teaching communities how to run them was.
He said he was hoping to get the BII and British Beer & Pub Association to help teach people how to run a pub.
However, the government confirmed communities will be given "new powers" to save local pubs as part of a Localism Bill to be unveiled in November.
Neill added: "The new government has axed the unfair cider tax, is stopping loss-leading sales of alcohol by supermarkets, will be making it easy to play live music and is to give local communities new powers to save local pubs."
