Your MP Writes: David Davies, Monmouth | South Wales Argus southwalesargus.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from southwalesargus.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Graeme Roy Picture: Gordon Terris Rishi Sunak was able to breathe a sigh of relief last week when he was given a much more upbeat forecast for the UK economy than he might have hoped for. Supported by the success of the vaccine programme, the Office for Budget Responsibility (the Government’s independent forecaster) now believes the UK economy is on track to return to pre-crisis levels of activity by mid-2022. Unemployment is expected to peak at just 6.5% – the lowest rise in the number of people out of work of any recent recession. But the inequalities that this crisis has exposed will not disappear quickly, and it will take years for many businesses and families to rebuild their livelihoods.
Sector recovery: a think-tank has concluded pubs need a permanent VAT reduction and beer duty cut to thrive post-lockdown (images: Martin Parratt, Getty Images) The Government should support the pub sector’s recovery by slashing taxes and providing top-up grant support, a new report has claimed.
Think-tank Localis concluded top-up grants should be used to help pubs in ‘left-behind places’ such as coastal towns or former industrial communities in 2022.
In the report, titled
‘The Power of Pubs – protecting social infrastructure and laying the groundwork for levelling up’, the think-tank makes several recommendations on tax.
The Government should work with the sector on a long-term solution to business rates reform, beyond the end of the rates holiday, it recommended.