Cuts to beer duty and VAT needed, say Newark pubs, amid government proposals to scrap public notices in newspapers as part of pub licensing reforms

A proposed reform to alcohol licensing has failed to win over Newark’s publicans, with cuts to beer duty and VAT touted as the support the industry really needs.

The government has begun a “fast-track review” of licensing laws, which it claims will “tear up outdated licensing rules that have been holding back pubs, bars and local events”.

Among the proposed reforms is a plan to remove the need for venues to promote alcohol licences in printed local newspapers — as it stated in its review document that “licence applicants report significant and varying costs for advertising notices”.

Permission for changes would still need to be sought from the relevant authorities for the opening of a new pub or nightclub, or for an existing venue to change its opening hours, and would instead only appear to the public on council websites.

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Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “This review is about cutting red tape, boosting footfall, and making it easier for venues to put on the kind of events that bring people together. When our locals do well, our economy does too.”

The plans have received opposition from the local media sector, including the Advertiser, with the move having been branded a direct attack on the public right to know — and have also failed to appeal to Newark’s pubs.

Dan Brown, director of Yupp. Beer, which runs The Fox and Crown on Appletongate in a joint venture with Castle Rock Brewery, said: “Licensing laws already allow us to apply for longer opening hours.

“It being easier — I don’t see it helping smaller pubs, or pubs in general. Maybe in bigger cities?

“I’ve never heard a pub say they’re struggling because they’re not able to be open long enough.”

He suggested the move was something the government was doing to “appease people who don’t know how these things work already” and would have little tangible benefit for the industry.

Instead, reductions in beer duty and VAT were suggested as options which would actually support pubs.

“We’d like some genuine support,” Dan added.

“A reduction in VAT would be wonderful, not to mention basic duty on beer.

“We sell a lot of craft beer, from 4% and some right up to 12%. When you get up to the high percentages we have to charge quite a lot for them because of the duty.

“It’s a lack of money which pubs are struggling with, not because we’re not open until 5am.”

At the Organ Grinder, on Portland Street, manager Jason Kitts was less sure what else the government could do for the industry — but described the cost savings of not needing to publish notices in papers as “negligible” and already something factored into the licensing process for venues.

He added: “I don’t think it will affect us — but the public need to know [about licensing applications].”

This is also the sentiment of the media sector, which is pushing back against the proposals — both due to the financial impact on the local media industry, and the public’s right to know.

Following the government announcement, News Media Association chairman Danny Cammiade suggested the removal of the notices from print was one that would “leave local communities shrouded in secrecy” and that they were “essential for ensuring those who cannot, or prefer not to, use digital technology can access the notices”.

He added: “Ministers must change course and abandon this misguided plan.”

The association’s chief executive Owen Meredith said: “Pubs and local papers go hand in hand. They are community hubs… the government’s misguided proposals for secret alcohol licensing notices would damage local community cohesion by making decisions around hospitality venues less transparent, ultimately harming both pubs and local papers.”

Another general manager of a Newark venue described the proposals as unlikely to make much difference — suggesting there already isn’t “much red tape” for licensing applications.

“The only thing that keeps opening at the moment really is hospitality venues, I don’t think there’s that much red tape,” the manager said.

“If you look in every town and city, what’s opening more and more? Restaurants and bars. What’s closing more and more? Retail and other places.

“I think the hospitality industry is struggling because of the price of beer and everything like that, in my personal opinion licensing notices won’t make much difference.”