The Morning Advertiser understands work is underway within the Treasury on pub-specific support including on how rates are calculated.
In response to the reports, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) chairman Ash Corbett-Collins said: “Doing nothing and letting pubs go to the wall was never going to be tolerated by pubgoers, publicans or MPs.
“The Government must urgently end the uncertainty and announce the extra help and permanently lower bills our locals were promised and need to survive and thrive.”
UKHospitality boss Allen Simpson called for a hospitality-wide approach around the issue to help support the industry as a whole.
He said: “It absolutely needs to be a whole sector solution. Something just for pubs isn’t enough when restaurants are also hammered and hotels worst of all.”
Trade body chair Kate Nicholls echoed Simpson’s comments around help for the whole trade.
“The entire hospitality sector is affected by these business rates hike - from pubs and hotels to restaurants and cafés,” she added.
“We need a hospitality-wide solution, which is why the Government should implement the maximum possible 20p discount to the multiplier for all hospitality properties.”
Furthermore, nightlife bosses pushed back on reports, with the Night-Time Industries Association saying it isn’t just pubs under threat.
NTIA CEO Michael Kill said: “The suggestion this is ‘just pubs’ is misleading and frustrating. Pubs are important, but they are only one part of the nightlife ecosystem. Casinos, nightclubs, theatres, bars, and live music venues all rely on each other to thrive.
“These business rates increases - averaging 76%, with some doubling or more - put the entire sector at risk. If these venues fail, we lose jobs, culture, and vital infrastructure that makes the UK a world-leading destination for nightlife.”
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) welcomed the reports and highlighted the impact on pub operators.
Potentially a huge win
“News the Government is going to look again at business rates increases is potentially a huge win for pubs across the country and shows the Government has not only listened to our concerns but acted,” chief executive Emma McClarkin said.
“This could save locals, jobs and mean publicans can breathe a huge sigh of relief. The BBPA has worked closely with ministers on a pub-specific solution that would ensure bills are reduced in line with the Government’s previous promises to pubs.
“We now keenly await to see the detail of the upcoming announcement.”
However, the TaxPayers’ Alliance criticised the potential change, calling for a reversal on rates and employers’ national insurance.
Chief executive John O’Connell added: “This is a pitiful sticking plaster from a Government that claims to support pubs and hospitality while strangling the sector with punishing taxes and costs.
“After hiking business rates and whacking employers with high national insurance, ministers are now offering a token retreat and hoping struggling publicans will be grateful, even as many are being pushed closer to the brink.
“If the Government is serious about saving pubs, it must reverse the business rates grab and scrap the employers’ national insurance hike in full, instead of drip-feeding half-measures while the sector bleeds out.”
Operator reaction
The reported U-turn comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to a number of questions about rates in the House of Commons this week (Wednesday 7 January).
Two MPs raised the subject of business rates during the most recent Prime Minister’s Questions.
Prior to this, operators reacted to Starmer’s suggestion the Government could offer “further support” to hospitality operators facing sharp hikes in business rates after the Prime Minister spoke to LBC, having said discussions with hospitality were ongoing and signalled openness to measures such as licensing freedoms while acknowledging some firms would see higher bills.
At the end of last year, many operators barred Labour MPs from their pubs as frustration about rocketing business rates costs escalated.