The scheme will be available to eligible occupied properties with a rateable value of less than £100,000. Under the scheme, eligible pubs will receive up to a £1,000 discount on their bill.
In the Autumn Budget 2017 the Chancellor announced that the pub relief scheme would be extended by a further year. The existing guidance and terms for the current scheme will continue to apply in the same way for 2018/19.
The relief is now available for 2017/2018 and 2018/19 only and will cease on 31 March 2019.
The majority of pubs are independently owned or managed and will not be part of chains. However, where pubs are part of a chain, relief will be available for each eligible property in the chain, subject to meeting State Aid requirements (see below). The Government's policy intention is that eligible pubs should:
- Be open to the general public
- Allow free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided
- Allow drinking without requiring food to be consumed
- Permit drinks to be purchased at a bar
For these purposes, it will exclude:
- Restaurants
- Cafes
- Nightclubs
- Hotels
- Snack bars
- Guesthouses
- Boarding houses
- Sporting venues
- Music venues
- Festival sites
- Theatres
- Museums
- Exhibition halls
- Cinemas
- Concert halls
- Casinos
- Golf clubs
The Council will determine those cases where eligibility for the relief is unclear on a case by case basis. The Council may ask for further information to support an application.
This relief will be applied automatically to potentially eligible cases and a letter will be issued informing ratepayers of this. If you think that your business should not qualify for any reason, you must contact the council at nndr@warwickdc.gov.uk , or by post or by calling 01926 456760.
State Aid
State Aid law is the means by which the European Union regulates state funded support to businesses. Providing discretionary relief to ratepayers is likely to amount to State Aid. However the Supporting Small Businesses relief scheme will be State Aid compliant where it is provided in accordance with the De Minimis Regulations (1407/2013)7.
The De Minimis Regulations allow a business to receive up to €200,000 of De Minimis aid in a rolling three year period (consisting of the current financial year and the two previous financial years) this includes all sources of state funding.
Recipients of SSB are required to inform the council if they are in receipt of any sum above the De Minimis aid limit. More information can be found on the Government’s State Aid web page.