WSTA Chief Executive Miles Beale met the Exchequer Secretary alongside six other alcohol sector trade associations and campaign groups on Wednesday 12th November. While the focus was firmly on the need to freeze and the budget (and the ongoing decline in duty receipts), it was also an opportunity to introduce the sector to the new Minister, re-enforce calls for business rates support for retail/hospitality businesses, and ask the Treasury to engage closely with other Government Departments on policies such as EPR. See the WSTA’s joint statement with the Scotch Whisky Association, British Beer and Pub Association, WineGB, UK Spirits Alliance, National Association of Cider Makers, and Society of Independent Brewers/Associates.

We worked alongside Treasury Wine Estates to organise Tuesday’s Westminster Hall debate on the alcohol duty system and the impact on the wine sector, including a speech from the Exchequer Secretary. Thanks to Greg Stafford MP for leading.

We heard from a number of MPs including Shadow Exchequer Secretary James Wild MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Charlie Maynard MP, Katie Lam MP, Alison Bennett MP, Caroline Voaden MP, Edward Morello MP, and Seamus Logan MP. All MPs posed direct questions to the Minister, including:

• Why the Minister must consider freezing duty at the budget

• Why is the Government losing money? Despite a duty increase on 1st February, Government receipts from alcohol duty are £300 million less so far this financial year (vs. 2024) – and sales are down in the on-and-off trade

•  Why OBR modelling needs a re-think: If the current trajectory of receipts decline continues, Government will take £1 billion less this financial year than forecast by the OBR back in March. As MPs put it – we’re the wrong side of the Laffer curve. YouGov polling commissioned by the WSTA shows that 1 in 4 alcohol consumers will buy less alcohol in shops this year (2 in 5 in the on-trade). It’s no surprise when 60% of an average bottle of wine is tax (70% for spirits)

• Why the 2023 re-design of the system didn’t work for wine: why taxing an agricultural product to 0.1% ABV doesn’t make sense, and why the Small Producer Relief ABV threshold should be increased beyond 8.5% ABV (to allow our domestic winemakers and distillers to access it)

• Why Government must pay attention to significance of our sector: Wine and spirits generated £76 billion in economic activity in 2022, paid over 70% of all excise duties collected in 2024, and are integral to the survival of hospitality

We call on Government to freeze duty and the budget – stabilising sales and Treasury revenue, while taking the opportunity to assess the system they inherited in detail, as part of next year’s 3-year post implementation review.