Pubs could be under threat after the Government scrapped a scheme allowing communities the opportunity to save them. The community ownership fund, which was launched in 2021, was set to run until the end of March and keep £150 million available to help people rescue local treasures on the brink of closure. The initiative was closed earlier than planned with millions of pounds unallocated in an attempt to budget for Sir Keir Starmer’s priorities.A recurring theme of recent years is of communities being aggrieved by pub operators closing pubs which were seen as a valued facility, but were considered uneconomic by their owners. The obvious response to this is to say “well, if you feel so strongly about it, why not put up your own money to buy it and run it yourselves?” And, in a growing number of instances, communities have been doing just that. One of the most recent examples is the King’s Head at Chitterne in Wiltshire (pictured).Sir Keir was branded a “Scrooge” for scrapping the scheme just days before Christmas as the Government blamed the decision on the state of public finances. Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said it was an act “worthy of Scrooge”, especially after Labour hammered businesses with tax rises at the October Budget.
It’s not something that’s going to suit every pub, but if there is a local community who are sufficiently engaged, and have deep enough pockets, then it’s certainly a viable option. I wrote about this back in 2017. The lack of a need to earn a return on capital means that a community pub can survive with a lower level of trade than that required for a commercial enterprise, but it has to be remembered that the socio-economic factors that led to its previous closure have not disappeared overnight. It is also often said that actually buying the pub is only the first stage of the battle – a way has to be found to ensure it can function on a long-term basis. Communities may not be too keen to subsidise ongoing operating losses.
To encourage this process, in 2021 the previous government provided £150 million for a Community Ownership Fund that aimed to help local people acquire threatened facilities. As well as pubs, this also covered music venues, theatres, cinemas, community centres, museums, parks and lidos. So far, £135 million of the initial sum has been allocated to 409 different projects. Pubs that have been saved include the Radnor Arms at New Radnor in Mid-Wales, and the Bell at Odiham in Hampshire.
Some may question on a strict utilitarian basis why the government should be paying for pubs at all. However, they do provide funding for a wide variety of other purposes that are felt to improve “quality of life” but cannot demonstrate a direct financial return, such as sport, the arts and preserving historic buildings. These are projects where a community will enjoy a specific, tangible benefit that they may appreciate rather more than an interpretive dance workshop. The Community Ownership Fund is making grants to provide capital funding for purchase – they are not funding ongoing operations. And, in a wider content, it is not difficult to identify areas of public spending where lavish sums are provided for projects of very questionable value.
Of course government does not enjoy a bottomless pit of money, but cutting this programme short comes across as a joyless, mean-spirited piece of penny-pinching that will save very little, but make people’s lives just that little bit worse and leave a sour taste in their mouths.
