"After two months of damaging headlines, Rachel Reeves has granted pubs a 15% discount on bills, worth 1,650 on average in the next tax year, then a two-year freeze in real terms, with the promise of a change in methodology in time for the next revaluation in 2029. Live music venues get the same deal. The package is not insignificant, especially as it was the year-three escalation in bills that was causing the most angst."
"If dire warnings about closures and job losses are correct, Reeves may have to suffer the embarrassment of fiddling again with business rates in her autumn budget. Second, this saga will intensify the complaint from one corner of the business world that the government is interested only in the eight high-growth sectors within its modern industrial strategy and that everybody outside the tent is an afterthought."
Rachel Reeves announced a 15% business-rates discount for pubs, averaging 1,650 next year, followed by a two-year freeze in real terms and a pledge to change valuation methodology by 2029. Live music venues receive the same treatment. The wider hospitality sector—restaurants, cafes and hotels—received no immediate extra relief beyond a future promise to rethink hotel valuations, leaving most hospitality jobs exposed. Employers warn of steep rises in business rates for hotels, with cited increases as high as 115% over three years. The decision risks further political fallout and may force additional fiscal adjustments in the autumn budget.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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