Business Rates, Newcastle-Under-lyme Borough Council And Marstons Brewery

EDM number 1643 in 2010-12, proposed by Paul Farrelly on 22/03/2011.
Categorised under the topics of Service industries and Taxation.

That this House wishes to record its disappointment at the conduct of the Cabinet of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in once again planning to write off, behind closed doors, business rates owed by public houses whose operating companies serially go bust and whose owners perennially hide behind the cloak of limited liability; considers that the Council has again failed to show proper civic leadership or best practice by not publicising the names of serial offenders; notes that 25,094 and 7,645 to be written off now in respect of Black Night Newcastle Ltd (The Albion Inn) and T2i Ltd (Ikon Cafe Bar) bring to 123,867 the unpaid business rates owed by establishments connected to former Conservative Borough Councillor Peter Whieldon, his former partner Anthony James and their business associates; further notesthat this is the sixth time with six defunct companies over the last seven years that the Council is secretly writing off business rates at The Albion Inn; further notes that this pub was finally repossessed last year by its freehold owner Marstons, but the brewery has again failed to vet the ownership of the latest, defunct operating company; and further notesthat the brewery's stance, along with Council failure to name and shame such owners, does nothing to deter copycat operations, nor to assist decent, honest publicans, who pay their dues, to compete on a level playing field in Newcastle, North Staffordshire and up and down the land.

This motion has been signed by a total of 3 MPs.