2 weeks Ago
The freeze, the first for more than a decade, has been proposed by the Policy & Resources Committee after the Guernsey Hospitality Association warned it was reaching a ‘tipping point’ where duty rises were damaging the whole tourism industry and the island. Association president Alan Sillett has welcomed the proposal and said it was good news for the industry, which had seen cumulative duty rises of more than 65% since 2012. Currently duty on a pint of normal strength beer or cider is 59.
6p a pint. ‘I think we built a strong case with the P&R committee,’ he said. ‘The hospitality industry has faced increases over the last 12 years and it’s gone on far too long.
‘More people have been purchasing alcohol at supermarkets and drinking at home rather than going to bars or restaurants, which isn’t good for their mental health as they aren’t socialising as much.’ He hoped that the freeze might stay in place for two or three years, and the association would again look to build a strong case for the 2026 Budget. P&R said that it was influenced by a ‘well-constructed letter from the Tourism Management Board, which made a clear case for why alcohol duty continuing to increase is becoming damaging for the hospitality industry’.
The committee also rejected an approach from the Health & Social Care Committee which had sought a real-terms increase of 5% in duty. And it has told the committee to look again at how it tackles alcohol pricing from a public health perspective and to consider more targeted measures than duty increases. ‘We are of the view that duty is a somewhat blunt instrument for encouraging behavioural change around alcohol consumption.
’ HSC has previously referenced minimum unit pricing, but has not pursued this. Mr Sillett said that the hospitality industry had been an ‘easy target’ for tax rises and said that better awareness and education would be more effective. ‘There’s no good argument for the increases as it doesn’t reduce overall consumption of alcohol, it just moves it to people drinking at home,’ he said.
‘The freeze highlights the importance of the hospitality sector and having a good time without being controlled by the “wine police”,’ he said. Duty on alcohol is budgeted to bring in some £16.4m.
for the exchequer during 2025, a real terms decrease on this year of more than £500,000. P&R is proposing a 13.2% increase in duty on all tobacco products, raising the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes by £1.
Tobacco duty is expected to raise more than £7.2m. next year.
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