SO WHAT NOW?
To quote Pete Townsend (and cue ARP 400 synthesizer), ‘Meet the new boss . . . Same as the old boss’. CAMRA’s National Chairman, Nik Antona, congratulated the Conservatives on their election win and added, “Pubs make a significant contribution to our society, culture and economy and we hope the government will act quickly to ensure stability and a thriving future for beer and pubs. This means prioritising reform of the business rates system, consider a lower rate of tax on beer served in pubs and taking action to ensure the Pubs Code is fit for purpose.”
This was partly echoed by Emma McClarkin, the new chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, the trade body representing the pub owning businesses. She told the Morning Advertiser, “With a clear election result, there is now a new Government in power and our priority will be working with them to provide the support our sector needs to flourish in 2020. Brexit deadlines will soon be upon the new Government and we hope they will be quick to resolve the need our sector has to retain access to talent post-Brexit. The Conservative Party manifesto included a commitment to cut business rates for pubs and a review of alcohol duty to ensure the tax system is supporting British drink producers. We look forward to working with the new Government to ensure it delivers on much needed support for our sector, including recognising the 228,000 people who have signed the Long Live the Local petition to cut beer duty. Pubs and beer play a vital role in our lives, communities and economy. It is imperative the new Government does all it can to support them.”
The Queen’s Speech included mention of the reform of business rates, as well as bringing in an additional discount for pubs and during the election campaign the Prime Minister did say that any new Government which he led would look into alcohol duties. The Prime Minister appears to get on very well with Tim Martin and assuming that this relationship goes beyond ‘Brexit’, it will be interesting to see what influence Mr Martin can bring, especially over duty and VAT. The politician most associated with a pint of beer however is probably Nigel Farage who I understand intends to transform his Brexit Party into the Reform Party. It will also be interesting to see what he proposes.
PLEDGE FOR PUBS
Readers may remember that CAMRA asked its members to canvass parliamentary candidates in their area to see if they supported its ‘Pledge for Pubs’ which was (1) celebrate and promote great beer, (2) support action to help pubs thrive and (3) represent the interests of pub goers, beer and cider drinkers. 2,300 CAMRA members took part and 508 candidates ‘took the pledge’. Of these, 48 were elected and nine of these represent Greater London constituencies.
LIFE AFTER LOSING
Some MPs are able to cope with losing their seats better than others. In 2015 Stuart Donaldson, at the age of 23 and representing the SNP, became the youngest male MP. Alas, he became the youngest ex-MP two years later. Rather than seek re-election, he joined the staff of CAMRA where he is now our Senior Campaigns Manager with overall responsibility for campaigns and public affairs, taking the lead on issues involving Westminster and the EBCU.
COMMUNITY PUBS FUNDING
There are several mentions of community pubs in this edition. The Plunkett Foundation, in a report entitled A Better Form of Business, says that the community pub sector grew by 13% in 2018, with 11 new openings, just below the 13 in 2017. At the end of 2018 there were a total of 95 community owned pubs, mainly in rural areas where the formula works best. They are a lifeline for isolated rural locations where other amenities have been lost. A few community-owned sites have however changed to being privately owned.
Happily, this growth is set to continue. Before Christmas it was announced that the Government was to award £650,000 to the Plunkett Foundation to fund their More than a Pub initiative. This will provide grants and advice for new community pub schemes. Similarly, the well established Pub is the Hub organisation is to receive £500,000, which will go towards helping rural pubs incorporate services such as post offices, shops and libraries into their businesses.
STONEGATE AND EI
The Competition & Markets Authority is close to allowing the £1.27 billion deal so long as Stonegate address the issue of a reduction in competition in certain areas. Stonegate have identified 42 pubs which they are willing to sell, 15 of which are in London. Apparently, potential purchasers for the pubs have already been identified. The deadline for a final decision is 19 February. More in the next edition, including details of the pubs involved if we have them.
REDBRIDGE LATE NIGHT LEVY
I reported
in our October/November edition that the Borough of Redbridge had deferred a
decision on adopting a Late Night Levy. I’m dismayed to report that they have
now decided to go ahead. Alan Barker of CAMRA’s South West Essex branch
commented, “These sort of levies are a very blunt
instrument to fund local policing of late night disorder. They penalise
licensed premises that have been granted opening hours after midnight,
irrespective of whether or not there is any history of trouble originating from
a particular pub, and whether or not a pub actually uses its late night hours
on a regular basis. Many pubs now stay open after midnight without incident
(particularly at weekends) and I would suggest that it is mainly those with
nightclubs that stay open until after (say) 2am that are the focus for disorder,
rather than community locals. If there needs to be a levy, it should only be
paid by those premises that have a history of trouble recorded by the police.
Having a fixed closing time of midnight to avoid the Late Night Levy will tend
to result in most of those pubs (that don’t have nightclubs, but do close after
midnight) cutting back their (currently staggered) closing times so that
everyone leaves the pubs at the same time, putting pressure on late night food
outlets and public transport, which may have the unintended consequence of
creating a new source of disorder, as people compete with each other for these
limited resources.”
ON YOUR RADIO…
The 4 December edition of BBC Radio Four’s ‘In Business’ programme featured micropubs, starting at the Long Pond in Eltham. I doubt if there was much that readers of this magazine would have learned but it was good in itself that the subject was covered. The programme stressed the prominence of local real ale in micropubs and the contrasting problems with pub owning businesses and the tie. The other micropub visited was in Preston where two female customers explained that they visited regularly because they found the pub ‘female friendly’ but would not visit any other local pubs. The programme also covered the community buy-out of threatened pubs. It was reassuring to hear the representative from the Plunkett Foundation say that there had been no failures in the community pubs that they had helped to set up. CAMRA did get a mention but it wasn’t exactly flattering.
THE LONDON PLAN
The London Plan is the Mayor of London’s strategic plan, setting out an economic, environmental, transport and social framework for development. CAMRA’s London Region has contributed to its substantial revision in respect of planning policy and practice relating to the preservation of pubs. It is understood that Policy HC7 (Protecting Public Houses) has been adopted and that the new London Plan will be published in time for the next edition.
FLIPPING HECK!
Personally, I find beer mat flipping an annoying habit, especially when it leads to my pint being knocked into my lap. I must however be in the minority because it is popular enough to warrant the launch of the first ever beer mat flipping world championships. It will be held on 8 February at the Ship and Shovel, Warsash Road, Warsash, near Southampton, SO31 9HX, from 4pm to 9pm. There will be two separate competitions: ‘Master Flip’, which is for the highest number of beer mats in a single flip and ‘Speed Flip’ which is the fastest flipping of ten beer mats one after the other. It is open to everyone and entry costs £10 for adults and £5 for under 18s. The proceeds will go towards the pub’s ‘Community Pot’ which funds local charities.
OOPS! MISSED…
Apologies but I found out too late to alert you that 12 December was National Lager Day. I recall that there was however something else happening that day.
Compiled by Tony Hedger
You can keep up to date with these and other stories via the Twitter feed on the regional website http://london.camra.org.uk