Deputy PM Angela Rayner says she is “determined” to save community pubs – insisting: “We’re not ready to call last orders.”

Ms Rayner, whose department is under pressure to do more to help struggling boozers, claimed pubs had been “decimated for over a decade”, with locals “ignored for far too long.” Her comments come as the government faces calls to step-up support for pubs in the face of soaring costs.

New figures reveal nearly 300 pubs closed across England and Wales last year – echoing previous studies that put the number even higher, at more than 400. Trade body the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said the closures had led to more than 4,500 job losses.

The Mirror has highlighted the plight of the industry with its Your Pub Needs You campaign. Among our three key demands is more support for community groups wanting to buy their local – whether closed already or not – to save it being converted or demolished and lost forever.

A previous scheme called the Community Ownership Fund provided money to save facilities important to local areas, including pubs. But it was paused during the general election, and pulled just before Christmas. Campaigners are calling on Labour to do the right thing, and reinstate it, or something similar. It is understood the government is working on further announcements relating to communities this year, including on the ownership of assets.

A fighting fund for pubs

Recognition for pubs that go above and beyond in their community

More support for community groups wanting to buy their local.

The Mirror highlighted campaigners in the picturesque Dent, in Cumbria, who were part way through applying to the Community Ownership Fund for £250,000 to help take over the village’s historic Sun Inn when the election. They made a direct plea to Ms Rayner last week to launch a replacement.

Ms Rayner heads up the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which was responsible the previous scheme. She told the Mirror: “Community spaces like pubs have been decimated for over a decade, and local people have been ignored for far too long. Pubs like the Sun Inn are the beating heart of our communities and we are determined to protect them. We’re not ready to call last orders which is why we’ve given £36million to save community projects across the country, including eight pubs.” That money relates to the last round of grants before the scheme was ended.

While her backing for community pubs is welcome, campaigners will not be satisfied until words are backed with action, with funding to help take over pubs threatened with closure. It would build on Labour’s new Community Right to Buy, which will give communities the first right of refusal when valued community assets are available, before they go to the market.

Labour faces even more pressure to act given the added costs for pubs – and other businesses – through April’s hike in employers’ national insurance, a higher national minimum wage, and a reduction in business rate relief.

Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper, who was also crowned 2024 Pub Parliamentarian of the Year, said: “Pubs are the beating heart of our communities, and as the MP for St Albans – a city which boasts more pubs per square mile than anywhere else in the country – I know just how tough a time they’re having.

“Pubs are still battling Covid loans, workforce shortages, and being barred from the best energy deals, but now the government is piling on the pressure with their disastrous jobs tax and higher business rates bills which will push some pubs to call last orders for the final time.

“The great British pub is a cultural icon in every corner of our country and it’s devastating that so many have shut up shop, often taking valuable community services with them. The government needs to properly back the Mirror’s campaign and Britain’s pubs now and that should start by scrapping their botched Budget measures and bring our struggling pubs back from the brink.”

Emma McClarkin, CEO of the BBPA, said: “The scale of these closures is completely avoidable because pubs are doing a brisk trade. Consumer demand is there; however, profits are being wiped out with sky high bills and pubs are facing yet more rates and costs come April.

“We’re right behind Labour’s mission to supercharge growth and can deliver this economic boost across the UK, but only if it is easier for pubs to keep their doors open. Government must urgently bring in meaningful business rates reform and phase in new employment costs so pubs can keep boosting the economy, supporting local jobs, and remaining at the heart of communities.”

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