That this House recognises the role pubs play as vital community anchors across the United Kingdom, providing local employment, supporting charities, and helping to combat social isolation; notes with deep concern that one pub permanently closed every day across England and Wales in 2025; acknowledges the unsustainable pressures facing the hospitality sector from rising National Insurance contributions, energy prices, alcohol duty and business rates; further notes that this coincides with the reduction of retail, hospitality and leisure relief from 75% to 40% and the abolition of the relief cap, which risks smaller independent businesses subsidising large corporate chains; calls on the Government to bring forward long-overdue reform that delivers a fairer and more transparent valuation system; and urges Ministers to support the sector by exempting hospitality SMEs from the Employer National Insurance Contributions increase, consult on a lower NIC band, £5,000-£9,100, to back part-time staff, and combine this with immediate relief through an emergency 5% reduction in VAT for pubs, restaurants, entertainment and accommodation venues until April 2027, helping to protect these beloved local institutions for future generations.
