HC Deb 25 June 1968 vol 767 cc225-6
19. Dr. Winstanley

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the operation of the present method of basing the rating assessments of licensed premises upon barrelage.

Mr. Harold Lever

No, Sir. The method has been approved by the courts for many years and I am not aware of any good reason for reviewing its operation.

Dr. Winstanley

Are we to deduce from that Answer that the Financial Secretary is wholly satisfied with the arrangement whereby the landlord's private residential rooms in a public house, which may amount to more than a third of the whole, are rated according to the amount of beer sold in the public rooms?

Mr. Lever

I am satisfied that this method of assessing the rental value of the premises as a whole is reasonable and fair, and the courts have so found.