If the Labour Government at Westminster is serious about helping our pubs and hospitality businesses, it should look to cutting taxes and lowering energy bills, not tinkering around and removing the public's right to know by taking away vital public notices.

Liz Saville-Roberts, Plaid Cymru's leader in Parliament, has come out swinging against Labour plans to remove public notices. The Government was to get rid of public notices because it thinks that will make it easier for pub and club owners to expand their businesses by selling more alcohol for longer.

Not so.

"Public notices are an important tool to ensure that people can stay informed about decisions that directly affect their neighbourhoods," the MP told Cambrian News this week.

“If the Labour UK government wants to support our pubs and hospitality sector, they should start by tackling the real issues - such as the punitive Employer NICS increase and and high energy bills that are driving businesses to closure."

Last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves slapped higher National Insurance Contribution costs onto employers. a move that hit the hospitality sector hardest.

And that move came on top of higher energy costs all round because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and uncertainty in the gas supply and market.

To try and mitigate some of the damages done by those higher operating costs and tax increases, Labour thinks that by allowing clubs and pubs to do what they want, when they want, there will be a boom that will help spur economic growth across the board.

"The UK Government should be listening to the hospitality sector which says these additional costs are leading to job losses and closures, rather than opting to undermine public awareness in this way," the MP said.

A former journalist, Ms Saville-Roberts is aware of the need to keep local people informed of what’s going on in their communities.

This week, newspapers publishers across the UK are publishing a special cover on all of their daily and weekly titles to highlight the issue.

By taking away the public notices, you could literally be woken up one night by loud music and wild parties going on in your neighbourhood pub or club - simply because they will be allowed to make changes without you being informed.

Those higher taxes and operating costs - coming on top of the difficult trading restriction in place during and after the pandemic - means that the sector is reeling.

“The last thing we can afford to do is hire more staff to try and expand,” one landlord in Ceredigion said this week. “What we need are lower taxes and help with our rates. My phone is ringing off the hook everyday by someone trying to sell me a better energy package. It’s not ringing off the hook with offers to expand.

“I’m in the business 30 years and I’ve never seen it as hard to make a penny out of selling pints. Lower our taxes and our energy bills and we might have a fighting chance,” he said.