Thank you for contacting me about support for pubs.
On 19 December, the Government announced that Alcohol Duty rates will be frozen by a further six months from February, until August 2023. Any changes to the rates will be announced as part of the Chancellor's budget statement on 15 March 2023. If any changes are announced at the Budget, they will take effect from 1 August 2023. This has been done to align any changes to duty rates with the implementation dates for the alcohol duty system.
More broadly, I was glad to see that, following a review, the alcohol duty regime is to undergo a major simplification. The old system was outdated and set rates based on historical anomalies, and a new regime will be fairer to both consumers and producers and promote product innovation in response to evolving consumer tastes.
I welcome the introduction of a new small producer relief which will build on the previous success of the Small Brewers Relief, which will benefit cidermakers and other producers of lower ABV drinks. This will allow small producers to diversify their product range to other products below 8.5 per cent ABV while still benefitting from reduced rates.
Following the former Chancellor's statement on 23 September 2022, these changes will now come into effect in August 2023. To support the sector in the interim, the Government is freezing alcohol duty rates from 1 February 2023.
I welcome the introduction of a new small producer relief which will build on the previous success of the Small Brewers Relief, which will benefit cidermakers and other producers of lower ABV drinks. This will allow small producers to diversify their product range to other products below 8.5 per cent ABV while still benefitting from reduced rates.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.