Beer duty: Labour shadow minister refuses to commit to scrapping beer-duty escalator

Pressed by delegates at the SIBA BeerX conference​ in Sheffield for a commitment to end the escalator, Perkins said he “recognised” the impact annual duty rises above inflation have had on pubs, and would make the industry’s case, “but a Labour Chancellor would have to address the deficit”.

Other industry sectors, such as construction, would also be making the case for special treatment by the Treasury, he added.

The industry is hopeful that Chancellor George Osborne will scrap the beer-duty escalator in the forthcoming Budget after a concerted campaign. The escalator was introduced by the Labour Government in 2008, and is currently in place until 2014/15. It means that duty is automatically increased by 2% above inflation every single year.

The shadow minister also told delegates that he personally supports alcohol minimum pricing, but insisted a Labour government “will not see minimum pricing as a stealth tax, but as a brake on irresponsible pricing, no more and no less”.

He said minimum pricing would help to address the price differential between on-trade and off-trade alcohol, and the related issue of pre-loading.  “Pubs are not getting the benefit of money spent on alcohol, but are dealing with many of the problems that spending causes,” said Perkins.

On the issue of reform of leased and tenanted agreements, Perkins said that “Labour does not oppose the beer tie in principle” but believes anyone signing a pubco agreement “should be no worse off than if they were free-of-tie.” He called on pubcos to offer a fee-of-tie option as a standard choice for incoming tenants and lessees.

Labour would also make it a requirement that any proposed new legislation included an assessment of the impact on small business.

Meanwhile, community pubs minister Brandon Lewis urged delegates to help list their local pubs as a community asset.

“Listing a pub as a community asset is a simple process, requiring support from just 21 local people on the electoral register,” Lewis said. “Already, more than 40 pubs have been registered as community assets.”

He added: “Good pubs and good beer go hand in hand. I’m delighted to see that more pubs are selling local beers and reaping the rewards of offering their customers something different.”