:00:00. > :00:00.isolated and alone for lack of support? Or do they want to do
:00:00. > :00:14.something different? Business rate issues particularly
:00:15. > :00:18.impacting, independent once, but I'm interested to hear from you, not me
:00:19. > :00:22.tell you what your problems are and we will see what we can do about
:00:23. > :00:26.them. We have a few different pub landlords here. And the local
:00:27. > :00:37.businesses from George Street and the local area. We have a pub up the
:00:38. > :00:43.road, our value has gone from 23,002 103. A other pubs around, for
:00:44. > :00:50.example the Six Bells have had an increase. The impact will come in
:00:51. > :01:00.about five years. But we need to address it now. You have been
:01:01. > :01:07.dealing with this quite a bit locally. The campaign has been led
:01:08. > :01:12.by these guys. I have got in touch with Sean and heard about how huge
:01:13. > :01:17.the rates were altered by it worked with some of our local Lib Dem
:01:18. > :01:20.councillors to table a motion at the District Council which got
:01:21. > :01:24.cross-party support to look at how the council could use it
:01:25. > :01:31.dispensation scheme to help the pubs and small businesses worst affected.
:01:32. > :01:35.And all our policy is made by party members and we tried to get a motion
:01:36. > :01:39.forward at the conference to say that our national policy, part of
:01:40. > :01:43.our manifesto now, is that we are going to conduct the review and we
:01:44. > :01:47.actually have Vince Cable looking at how we might review the business
:01:48. > :01:51.rate system and the form it is in because it is unfit for purpose. So
:01:52. > :01:55.many of you are suffering a big hit and we know that the Amazon
:01:56. > :01:59.warehouse across the country are going down. It is pretty shocking
:02:00. > :02:04.and we know that small businesses around here make the city what it
:02:05. > :02:08.is. It is my opportunity to hear from you about how hard it is
:02:09. > :02:14.hitting and what you think about the dispensation scheme put in place. I
:02:15. > :02:20.thought it was a tiny measure. And probably won't have much impact but
:02:21. > :02:26.we want to hear from you. I think the concern is that there is a real
:02:27. > :02:29.unfairness, and that pubs in particular but small and independent
:02:30. > :02:33.businesses are hit by it. It is almost going to do the review that
:02:34. > :02:37.was targeted at making sure most damage was done to the smaller
:02:38. > :02:41.businesses and most good was done to those who had the most already,
:02:42. > :02:46.particularly those multinational outfits, and this is what you come
:02:47. > :02:50.up with. Without wanting to be cynical as to the motives, it is
:02:51. > :02:55.something we have to fight against, we understand the need for taxation
:02:56. > :03:01.but it should be fair and should put people off a growing industry, the
:03:02. > :03:07.growth in the brewing industry and the diversity of it is amazing. The
:03:08. > :03:11.independence of pubs makes a city like St Albans what it is. I have
:03:12. > :03:15.family here, a beautiful place and one of the things that makes it so
:03:16. > :03:19.attractive is all of the pubs and independent and a great character
:03:20. > :03:26.and beers and to put that at risk is unpardonable. We will do what we can
:03:27. > :03:32.to prevent it. Adam is here and he runs a pub. He has had a very big
:03:33. > :03:43.work on the rates. We have gone up 100%. We have two pubs and overall
:03:44. > :03:54.we have seen an increase in our business rate of 30 1000. A squad
:03:55. > :04:02.are young and ambitious company, 40 staff with two studs, it stagnate
:04:03. > :04:08.our growth and investment. -- two sites. You know this is coming and
:04:09. > :04:11.your planning and business accommodates that but the other
:04:12. > :04:16.thing is new entrants into the thing is new entrants into the
:04:17. > :04:22.industry who might think about a different option and that is a real
:04:23. > :04:27.worry. The biggest worry we have as independent landlords can even as
:04:28. > :04:32.part of a brewery, is to keep our independent and so the issue we have
:04:33. > :04:34.is that we don't have 40 sites we can spread the cost over because a
:04:35. > :04:41.lot of the increases are geographical. I know Wetherspoon 's
:04:42. > :04:49.had a big hit, about 7 million overall, but if you break it down to
:04:50. > :04:55.each one is about 8000. So when you break it down it is more affordable.
:04:56. > :05:00.But the thing is, you can't average out across the country when it is
:05:01. > :05:09.just you. Does anybody have any questions? We have been campaigning
:05:10. > :05:16.for the last few years and I have a small shop. One of the things we are
:05:17. > :05:22.astonished about with the last business rates review that the
:05:23. > :05:26.Tories introduced was for very small shops they would pay no rate. We
:05:27. > :05:32.have the strange situation in our road where some of us are paying
:05:33. > :05:36.?70,000 a year, the pubs and the small businesses are paying about
:05:37. > :05:42.15000 and others are paying nothing so there is this huge disparity. It
:05:43. > :05:46.is almost an incentive for me to downsize and get rid of staff and
:05:47. > :05:52.equipment and go into a small unit. It defeats the whole object of the
:05:53. > :05:57.economy. And it is a sticking plaster, it is an admission that the
:05:58. > :06:03.system is wrong and unfair and so it you happen to be a small business
:06:04. > :06:07.that gets that dispensation and that exemption, good for you, but if you
:06:08. > :06:13.are just above that drop zone, more and more pressure goes on you and
:06:14. > :06:18.the government would only do that, ignoring the party politics, if they
:06:19. > :06:24.were admitting it was unfair. As the exemptions grow in size, the weight
:06:25. > :06:28.on the new bottom becomes all the greater and it is a reminder that
:06:29. > :06:31.the system is broken and you need to have a full review. We need to look
:06:32. > :06:38.at other ways of taxing people which takes account of ability to pay it.
:06:39. > :06:49.As a result of this, landlords are seeing almost a Goldline
:06:50. > :06:56.opportunity, whether retail premises or the pub is then turned into ?1
:06:57. > :06:58.million house and then we have less and less opportunities, less and
:06:59. > :07:02.less jobs. You see this across the country,
:07:03. > :07:08.particularly in places like this where the property value is high. In
:07:09. > :07:11.some larger companies, you see a temptation to think, there is more
:07:12. > :07:16.money to be made out of accommodation than out of running a
:07:17. > :07:21.pub and you might, you know, put a manager in that and allow them to
:07:22. > :07:25.fail, through no fault of their own, to demonstrate to a local authority,
:07:26. > :07:30.not necessarily this one but wherever you might be, that this is
:07:31. > :07:36.not a viable enterprise as a pub. Two or three crashed careers, shall
:07:37. > :07:38.I say, and if you are tenants, far worse than that, there is your
:07:39. > :07:42.evidence to the local authority that you need to give me planning
:07:43. > :07:48.permission for some flats. Meanwhile, you have lost a wonderful
:07:49. > :07:51.benefit the community anti-war three people have had their livelihoods
:07:52. > :07:55.and reputations trashed. It's a tragedy, but sometimes I see it done
:07:56. > :08:01.in quite a complex way and it's wrong. Anyone else got any
:08:02. > :08:11.questions? Chris has the oldest pub in England. I think I have been in
:08:12. > :08:16.there. Thank you book coming out today. Daisy has been a great help
:08:17. > :08:22.with all the parties supporting the St Albans pubs. Essentially, we are
:08:23. > :08:28.desperate for a quick resolution to this. Some of us will survive the
:08:29. > :08:32.increases. It will hurt. But some of us won't. And that the larger
:08:33. > :08:38.percentage to actually go straight to the fibre of our community and
:08:39. > :08:42.every business in here has proved how we connect with the community of
:08:43. > :08:50.St Albans Cathedral it's a city, we are small but we pack a punch. We
:08:51. > :08:55.are trying to make this place look beautiful and it's just making it
:08:56. > :09:00.harder. Speed is of the essence and it's something that we appreciate
:09:01. > :09:03.all the support from all parties. Yes, and we get that message, wily
:09:04. > :09:10.review needs to be done quickly before these new rates come into
:09:11. > :09:21.effect. Even before the raids have started, people are moving away. It
:09:22. > :09:28.is very urgent. We completely get that. One of the issues I think we
:09:29. > :09:33.spoke about is that there wasn't any consultation either. It came out of
:09:34. > :09:37.nowhere. Because of the major disparities, that hadn't been any
:09:38. > :09:41.opportunity from your site to say, well, this is how it will impact of
:09:42. > :09:44.the different ways. Yes, we need a speedy resolution but we also need
:09:45. > :09:50.to stress tested both to make sure it's not going to make things worse,
:09:51. > :09:54.whatever the solution is. We were pushing for a review many years ago,
:09:55. > :10:00.the Tories scrapped that you, and now Vince Cable is conducting this
:10:01. > :10:05.review of the business rates system. Whatever happens on Thursday, I am
:10:06. > :10:08.committed to making sure we get your feedback and put it into our review
:10:09. > :10:16.to help people like St Albans keep going. Any final questions whilst we
:10:17. > :10:20.have the opportunity? The other thing we were going to also speak to
:10:21. > :10:30.you about is with regards to the business rates, obviously fed all
:10:31. > :10:36.burnt at a 27,000 per pub increase. What we would also really like is a
:10:37. > :10:44.pause, so that whatever the rate will be, there will be a pause so
:10:45. > :10:53.that we can do all we can. Whatever happens on Thursday happens and then
:10:54. > :10:57.we will crack on with it. Starting again is very, very important. I
:10:58. > :10:59.think the impact upon Saint all buttons as a city but on communities
:11:00. > :11:03.around the country, there is a around the country, there is a
:11:04. > :11:12.reason why those pubs are closing each year. I am certain this is part
:11:13. > :11:18.of it. It's all about making choices. If you make a building more
:11:19. > :11:22.lucrative for accommodation, for redevelopment than it would be
:11:23. > :11:26.serving the community as a pub, then this is what is going to happen,
:11:27. > :11:31.which is why you need a tax system that is fair and will lead to the
:11:32. > :11:34.outcome is that you want, rather than accidental ones that you don't
:11:35. > :11:43.want. It does appear to be more profit -based, and especially with a
:11:44. > :11:49.pub, it is very poorly structured, though it look that overall takings
:11:50. > :11:53.rather than profits. It would be better if it bit that it
:11:54. > :11:59.specifically, particularly to the type pub as well. The other thing I
:12:00. > :12:04.would say as well is from people I have been talking to a cross St
:12:05. > :12:07.Albans, it will really have a harmful effect on pharmacies and
:12:08. > :12:13.some of the charities up and down Saint Peters Street as well, and
:12:14. > :12:18.some other sorts of businesses. George Street and Holly will hill, I
:12:19. > :12:23.know they will have a big impact on them and we are almost entirely
:12:24. > :12:28.independent it. There chain, they are independent. That is important
:12:29. > :12:33.for us at a tourist area. We are all working for the city in partnership,
:12:34. > :12:38.trying to get more people visiting our city and it all works together.
:12:39. > :12:43.It all adds to the appeal of the city and what makes it a very
:12:44. > :12:49.special place. Thank you very much. I would love you to poorer pint if
:12:50. > :12:54.you would like to. It would be my great pleasure. I have done this for
:12:55. > :13:05.a living in the past. But not with an order that widget for ahead.
:13:06. > :13:14.My dad would kill me if you used a Northern widget. Can I ask a
:13:15. > :13:23.question. How are you feeling? Believed to be in a pub. That hours
:13:24. > :13:26.to go but I have to say I wait to be drinking a pint until at least ten
:13:27. > :13:33.o'clock tomorrow. Thank you very much indeed everyone. Cheers, guys.
:13:34. > :13:36.See you today. Right, let's go and do it.