Written question asked by Joe Robertson (Conservative) on Thursday, 27 November 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 December 2025. It was answered by Dan Tomlinson (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 December 2025 on behalf of the Treasury.

Spirits: Excise Duties

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of RPI-linked duty increases on consumer prices for spirits in pubs versus supermarkets.

Answer

Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade.

At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to main its current real-terms value. The government does not expect this to have any significant impact on competition between the on and off trades.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 95348
Session: 2024-26
Grouped for answer: Yes
Subjects: Excise duties Prices Spirits
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Spirits: Excise Duties

Secondary information

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