Labour urged to scrap ‘desk tax’ on cafes, eating places and pubs with pavement seating so Brits can get pleasure from a ‘summer season pint within the solar’

Labour is being urged to axe the ‘table tax’ on cafes, restaurants and pubs who have pavement seating so Brits can enjoy food and drinks in the summer sun.

Campaigners are calling for ministers to scrap the need for businesses to have licences for customers to eat and drink while sitting at outdoor tables.

They claim it will provide a boost to the struggling hospitality industry, which is facing costs pressures from inflation and rising business rates.

Pavement licences for bars and eateries became common during the Covid pandemic.

For a £100 fee, firms could get a one-year licence which was aimed at getting more punters through their doors, while maintaining social distancing guidance in place at the time.

This was bolstered by the 2023 Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, which made the system permanent.

But councils can now charge up to £500 for a licence of up to two years, with renewals costing £350.

The Conservative Environment Network (CEN), which is behind the ‘scrap the table tax’ campaign, believes that local authorities are enforcing the rules ‘egregiously’.

Labour is being urged to axe the ‘table tax’ on cafes, restaurants and pubs who have pavement seating so Brits can enjoy drinks and food in the summer sun

They highlighted how Westminster City Council only grants licences for three to six months at a time, with businesses having to pay £350 for every renewal.

CEN also accused Watford Borough Council of ‘punishing firms for increasing their footfall’ by creating a tiered system where businesses pay different rates based on how many chairs they have.

Blake Stephenson, Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire and a member of the CEN, said: ‘Labour’s anti-business agenda is killing our high streets and stifling economic growth.

‘Our cafes, pubs and restaurants are facing eye-watering business rates, rising national insurance contributions, and overbearing red tape brought in by this Government.

‘We should be doing everything we can to help our hospitality industry thrive. Instead, it is being burdened with additional costs and bureaucracy, even just to put a few tables and chairs outside.

‘The Government should scrap the table tax to show that it backs British businesses.’

Fellow Tory backbancher Jack Rankin, the MP for Windsor, said:  ‘Overbearing red tape and anti-growth measures are hampering the Great British pastime of enjoying a pint in the sun.

‘It is ridiculous that our pubs, bars, cafes, and restaurants have to apply and pay for a licence to put a few tables and chairs outside.

‘With the World Cup coming up this summer, the Government can show it is on the side of hospitality businesses and their customers by scrapping the table tax.’

Kitty Thompson, head of campaigns at CEN, said: ‘When the weather is nice, people inevitably want to sit outside in the fresh air.

‘Hospitality businesses should be able to provide the tables and chairs for their customers to do this.

‘But the small businesses that are the lifeblood of our high streets must pay their council for the privilege of providing what their customers want.

‘This is a ridiculous state of affairs. There is no need for councils to burden themselves and local businesses with the bureaucracy of applying for a pavement licence.’

A Government spokesperson said: ‘Councils are responsible for introducing pavement licences and we expect them to make sure they are affordable for businesses.

‘We’re supporting high streets with £301million invested this year to help communities get boarded-up shops open again, and reforming licensing to help more venues offer food and drink or one-off events outside.’