Written questions by Harris.

Whether she plans to review excise duty rates on (a) spirits, (b) wine and (c) beer.

The baseline assumption, shared by the Government and the Office for Budget Responsibility, is that alcohol duty will be increased annually in line with the Retail Price Index, so that it does not fall in real terms. As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations from stakeholders to inform policy development. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and her fiscal rules require day-to-day spending to be fully paid for through tax receipts.

What fiscal steps her Department is taking to help support the growth of independent distilleries in rural areas.

Following public consultation, a new duty structure for alcohol products was introduced in August 2023. The alcohol duty system taxes all alcohol products according to their strength, so the duty owed increases with alcohol content. The system is also progressive, ensuring that higher strength products pay proportionately more tax The 2023 reforms significantly reduced previous inconsistencies in treatment between different types of alcohol product and introduced two new reliefs: Draught Relief (DR); and Small Producer Relief (SPR). DR enables products served on draught below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) to pay less duty. This relief provides support to pubs and other hospitality venues, as well as helping producers of eligible products. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor made DR more generous by cutting draught rates by 1.7%, taking a penny of duty off a typical strength pint. SPR replaced and extended the previous Small Brewers Relief. SPR supports SMEs and new entrants by permitting smaller producers who make 4,500 hectolitres or less of alcohol per year to pay reduced duty rates on all products below 8.5 per cent ABV. HMRC plans to evaluate the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023.  This will allow time for HMRC to gather a broad range of data. The Government welcomes evidence from industry on the impact of the changes so far.

What estimate her Department has made of the value of the UK spirits sector to the economy in (a) employment, (b) exports and (c) tax revenue.

(a) The Office for National Statistics' Business Register and Employment Survey (2023 edition) estimates total (part-time and full-time) employment in Great Britain for the Distilling; rectifying and blending of spirits industry is 13,700 workers. (b) HMRC’s overseas trade data estimates that the value of UK spirits exports (excluding undenatured ethyl alcohol) in the 2024 calendar year was £6.6 billion. (c) HMRC’s tax receipt statistics indicate that the value of alcohol duty paid on spirits for 2024 to 2025 is £4.2 billion.

What comparative assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of excise duty rates on the competitiveness of (a) UK and (b) European distillers; and what fiscal steps she is taking to help support the domestic distilling industry.

The UK spirits industry makes a vital contribution to our economy and society, with Scotch Whisky remaining the UK’s most successful food and drink export enjoyed by consumers across the globe. UK alcohol duty is not charged on exports. There is significant variation in alcohol taxation policy amongst European countries. The World Health Organization recently published a comparison of alcohol taxes across the WHO European Region, which can be found here: https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289061940 . The UK’s alcohol taxes are generally lower than Sweden and Norway’s, and comparable to the Republic of Ireland and Finland. Regarding support for the spirits industry, I refer the hon member to the answer that I gave to PQ UIN 80562

What the annual value is of UK spirits exports; and what proportion of overall exports those exports were in the last five years.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK which includes data on exports of spirits. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. To build a table, you will need the commodity codes for spirits. These codes are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. Commodity codes for spirits would come under Chapter 22. The annual trade figures for total exports can be found at uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/overseas/. The last available figures are for July 2025. If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.