Music Venue Trust - Spring Statement response

27 March 2025 - Press release

“The Chancellor, Treasury and DCMS have all the facts and data they need to know how to reverse the decline in access to live music and culture in our communities. While business rates reform is to be welcomed, and we look forward to the interim report in summer, the gap created by the reduction in rate relief until this rate reform comes into effect has been to create a demand for £7 million in additional premises taxes from a sector that, in 2024, returned an entire gross profit across all 810 such venues in the UK of just £2.5 million. This cut has not been mollified by any further measures in this Spring Statement - such as a cut in VAT on cultural ticketing, a delay to the introduction of National Insurance Contributions (NICs), or strengthened protection from increased development - and as such will make it harder for GMVs to invest in their venues and support employment in their local communities.

For the Chancellor to choose, once again, not to act on this opportunity will not generate growth or meet the Government's wider ambitions for the creative industries. Instead, it will see more grassroots music venues close, many in already deprived communities,  further jobs lost, and the continuation of undervaluing local culture in the UK.”