PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
EFFECT OF BUSINESS RATES RISES ON PUBS (23 February 2017)

That this House is deeply concerned about the planned increases in business rates and the damage that they will do to many small businesses; notes the impact that these changes will have on pubs, with rate rises nearing 300 per cent in some areas and central London pubs seeing an average rise of 43 per cent in business rates; further notes that the postponed revaluation in 2015 means that a revaluation hasn't taken place since 2008; notes that the situation facing pubs has changed dramatically since that time; calls on the Government to take urgent action to cap business rate rises for pubs and restaurants, has been announced in Scotland; further calls on the Government to halt this ill-considered business rate rise until a full and proper re-evaluation has taken place, which takes in to account the current state of the economy and in the pub sector; notes that pubs currently pay over five times their fair share of business rates; calls on the Government to recognise the important role pubs play in communities and local economies, and to acknowledge this when making future calculations for business rates for pubs; and believes that, in the longer term, pubs need a different form of business taxation that is not predicate on turnover or size of a pub, neither of which works for pubs and threatens otherwise viable pub businesses.

Sponsored by:
Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat)