Overview
- On Thursday, July 23 the prime minister announced a 20% cut to business rates for nearly 32,000 pubs, clubs and live music venues that the government says will save a typical pub about £1,100 a year and cost roughly £100 million a year.
- Earlier in the week Mr Burnham removed VAT on household electricity from October and reinstated a £2 single bus fare cap in England as part of the same early push to ease living costs for households and small businesses.
- Number 10 says the measures are funded by specific offsets including cancelling the planned Digital ID programme, a review of business rate reliefs for shops it calls socially harmful such as vape stores, and stronger enforcement on online marketplaces.
- Senior ministers and outside economists dispute or say the accounting is incomplete and warn the cumulative pledges could force future tax rises or require cuts and reprioritisations of departmental budgets if savings do not materialise.
- Mr Burnham moved into No.10 earlier this week and is using a ‘No10 North’ agenda to prioritise high streets, but delivery depends on Treasury negotiations and independent scrutiny from bodies such as the OBR and the Bank of England.